What Is The Middle Way?
And what, monks, is the Middle Way realized by the Thus-Come-One, which gives vision and understanding, which leads to calm, penetration, enlightenment, to Nirvana?
It is just this Noble Eightfold Path, namely: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. – The Buddha, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
Since starting this site I’ve always felt too close to write about The Middle Way. I asked a friend, Gary over at Buddha Space, if he’d share what The Middle Way meant to him. This is his fantastic reply. 108 bows to you Gary.
The Middle Way lies at the very heart of Buddhism, as indicated in the words above, taken from the Buddha’s first sermon, given by the Thus-Come-One over two-and-a-half thousand years ago in North India. Since then, Buddhism has transformed itself many times as it has spread all over the Orient from Sri Lanka to Japan, and has now taken root in the Occident, from England to Australia. Yet, despite the global nature of the Buddhadharma these days, and its diverse forms such as the orthodox Theravada, the devotional Pure Land, the esoteric Vajrayana, and the prosaic Zen, the Middle Way remains a central theme that all Buddhists take heed of, one way or another.
According to the Buddha, the Middle Way is a life lived between the extremes of self-denial and self-indulgence. Neither hedonist nor ascetic are to be imitated, for the Noble Eightfold Path weaves its way through life avoiding both these unenlightened lifestyles. To see the world in the light of the Buddhadharma is to have Right View, not only recognizing the suffering that is caused by desire, but also the Path that leads to the ending of all such suffering, based in the Right Intention to let go of lust, ill-will, and cruelty. In other words, to lead a harmless life. Right Speech, Action, and Livelihood grow out of such an intention, directing one’s lifestyle in a more selfless, rather than selfish, direction. Right Effort is the avoidance of unwholesome states and the cultivation of wholesome ones. Right Mindfulness and Concentration take this well-directed mind and hone it to the point where it is on the precipice of the great void that is known as Nirvana. The perfection of the Path (that is, the Middle Way), is the ripening of the spiritual life; it becomes a fruit ready to drop into the infinity of enlightenment…forever.
Living the Middle Way can take many different forms – not surprising when the many strands of the Buddhadharma are taken into account, along with the many types of people there are – but all are ultimately intent on its original and continuous objective: Nirvana. To cultivate a moral lifestyle hand in hand with a mindful meditative practice is to walk the Middle Way, which gives vision and understanding, as the Buddha put it. This vision is to see things as they are, rather than as we think or want them to be, and this understanding is the knowledge that in the things of the world there is no salvation or enlightenment; awakening to the silent wisdom within is to experience the calm mind that penetrates to the core of our being: the Buddha.
The Middle Way is not only the recommended manner of living given us by the Buddha; it is also the realization that beyond these limited erroneous egos and puffed-up personalities we are the Buddha. To truly walk the Middle Way is to traverse this world in the knowledge that we are already enlightened – we just have to enlighten ourselves to the fact! Openly reflecting on the Way is to share with all sentient beings this wondrous hidden truth, helping us to let go a little of our greed, hatred, and delusion, the three poisons that tie us to a life of suffering. For, as the Buddha so wisely taught all those centuries ago, it is in the walking of this Middle Way that one discovers Nirvana, releasing the pain and anguish of the ego into the serenity of our Buddha-nature.
The Middle Way
June 18, 2011
Absolute Delusion/ Perfect Buddhahood
The following is an excerpt from Buddha Forum. Venerable Dharmakara posted this.
In spite of the common view of Buddhism as non-dogmatic and tolerant, the historical record preserves many examples of Buddhist thinkers and movements that were banned as heretical or subversive. The San-chieh (Three Levels) was a popular and influential Chinese Buddhist movement during the Sui and T'ang periods. "Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood" uses manuscripts discovered at Tun-huang to examine the doctrine and institutional practices of this movement in the larger context of Mahayana doctrine and practice. By viewing San-chieh in the context of Mahayana Buddhism, Hubbard reveals it to be far from heretical and thereby raises important questions about orthodoxy and canon in Buddhism. He shows that many of the hallmark ideas and practices of Chinese Buddhism find an early and unique expression in the San-chieh texts.
Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood
http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/publications/nlarc/Absolute_delusion.htm
The Refuge of the Four Buddhas of the Universal Dharma
I. The Buddha as the Matrix of Enlightenment
[Truth and untruth] are neither different nor the same. [Nonetheless, truth and untruth] are one as well as different, while being neither one nor different. Although separated from attachments, the truth of the universe produces the untruth of the universe; therefore, untruth is dependent upon truth. But truth is not independent, because it is forever dependent on untruth; neither does untruth arise independently, because it is necessarily dependent upon truth. Again, the matrix of enlightenment and all of samsara, the essence and the forms, are also like this, neither the same nor different. Like gold and the ornaments made from gold, the essence and forms are forever the same. Again, the matrix of enlightenment and the phenomenal forms of the universe, the essence and forms, are forever different, as dust and moisture are always distinct; thus they are neither different nor not different. The Scripture of the Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala says: "If there is no doubt about the matrix of enlightenment when it is covered by the innumerable stores of defilements, then there will be no doubt concerning the body of truth that is free of those innumerable stores of defilements."
Further, the Scripture of the Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala teaches that "the matrix of enlightenment is the basis of the repeated cycles of birth and death; because of this matrix of enlightenment the original limits are taught to be unknowable. Because the matrix of enlightenment is the basis, we speak of the cycle of birth and death, and this is well spoken. There is birth and death because of worldly convention, but neither birth nor death is found in the matrix of enlightenment. The matrix of enlightenment is the matrix of the universe, the matrix of the truth-body, the supreme matrix of the transcendent, the matrix whose self-nature is pure." It is wholly quiescent, truly ultimate, and forever separated from all false thoughts and delusion. Yet the untruth of the universe continues to be dependent upon the truth of the universe. The phenomenal forms of the universe continue to be dependent upon the matrix of enlightenment, just as water is the basis of the many waves. Because there is the matrix of enlightenment there are the phenomenal forms of the universe, as there are many waves because of the water.
The matrix of enlightenment has the form of samsara, the repeated cycle of birth and death. "Birth" is the arising of new phenomenal form; "death" is the extinction of old phenomenal form. As with the water and the waves, [the matrix of enlightenment and the repeated cycles of birth and death] arise together and end together. Nonetheless, the water neither arises nor comes to an end. Dependent upon the water, the form of the wave arises and falls. When the new wave arises, the old wave ceases. The phenomenal forms of the universe, therefore, are none other than the matrix of enlightenment, and there is no other essence outside of this essence and these forms. It is like the waves that are nothing other than the water, yet outside of those waves there is no other water.
However, the myriad phenomenal forms of the universe arise because of good and evil actions, not because of the matrix of enlightenment, as the true cause of the arising of the many waves is the wind, not the water. Again, the virtues of the matrix of enlightenment function throughout the universe together with the phenomenal forms as their base, support, and foundation. It is like the virtue of the water whose essence and function permeate thewaves as the basis of all of the waves. Nonetheless, the matrix of enlightenment is different from the myriad phenomenal forms that arise dependent upon it --- the matrix of enlightenment alone is the essence, the phenomenal forms are not the essence, as the essence of water is different from the many waves. Only the water is water, the waves are not the water. Similarly, the truth of the essential nature of the matrix of enlightenment both functions and does not function in relation to the myriad phenomenal forms. It is like the purity of the essence of the water, which both functions and does not function with respect to the waves.
Again, this essence is called the storehouse consciousness. Therefore the last book of the Ghanavyuha Sutra says, "the Buddha has taught the matrix of enlightenment as the storehouse consciousness. Delusory thinking cannot know that this matrix is the storehouse consciousness." There are two basic explanations with regard to this, that of the principle and the mind. The matrix of enlightenment is the principle, and worldly consciousness is the mind. The matrix is true, and consciousness provisional. It is also called the four unconditioned noble truths: although suffering and its cause are destroyed, nothing is actually destroyed. Although the truths of extinction and the path are obtained, nothing is actually obtained. Therefore, because nothing is actually destroyed or obtained, there is neither increase nor decrease. It is also called the one truth because it is ultimate and true, with neither destruction nor attainment. It is also called the one foundation because it is the unsurpassed foundation of all practice and understanding inthe universe. It is also called suchness in itself, because it is equal and non-dual. It is also called the totality of the universe because there is neither increase nor decrease. It is also called the store-consciousness because it appropriates and stores all the various phenomena.
The matrix of enlightenment and the conditions and forms have no beginning or end, and thus truth and untruth are dependent upon eachother, neither separate nor distinct. Therefore the Lankavatara Sutra states in a simile that "the storehouse consciousness is like the expansive ocean and waves. Because of violent winds the great waves arise, which roll ceaselessly over the depths. The ocean of the store-consciousness is eternally abiding, and that which is aroused by the wind is the world of objects. It is the waves of consciousness that arise, jumping and dancing about." Sometimes the true is changed into the untrue, like a multitalented actor. Sometimes the untrue is transformed into the true, like a golden ornament [that can return to its original state of pure gold]. The true cause [that is, matrix of enlightenment] and the conditioned cause [that is, conditioned phenomena] are both the same and different like milk, cream, and clarifed butter.
Truth and untruth both take shape within the same matrix, like the ocean and the waves. The One Vehicle [of the Buddhas] and the Three Vehicles [of the bodhisattva, the sravaka, and the pratyekabuddha] are both the same and different, like the Anavatapta Lake and the eight rivers that flow from it. All of these causes and conditions are thoroughly explained in various similes within the sutras. Therein it is taught that the matrix of enlightenment gives rise to the cause and fully ripens the fruit, changing the small into the great and transforming the common into the noble. All this is due to the efficacious power of the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment.
II. The Buddha-Nature Buddha
The second item is the Buddha that exists within all living beings as the nature of a Buddha. Some texts talk of this Buddha-nature as a principle, while others speak of it as something acquired through practice. Some speak of this nature as the cause of enlightenment and others as a result. Now, in clarifying this we only rely on the thirty-eighth book of the Nirvana Sutra, which illuminates the Buddha-nature as the "true cause". Therein it states that all of the living beings of the universe, ordinary persons as well as sages, have this nature, as do all of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Thus, from the perspective of the result, the name is established and called Buddha-nature. However, this Buddha-nature is neither cause nor result. Existing as the cause it is termed cause, existing as the result it is termed result.
Related to the former concept of the matrix of enlightenment, just as "observe" and "watch" are different words [but both mean "to see"], with regard to conditions there is a slight difference in meaning [between the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment and the Buddha as the nature of the Buddha in all living beings]. Buddha-nature is so called because it includes the permanence of the fruits of Buddhahood throughout the universe as well as the permanence of the causes of Buddhahood throughout the universe. Wholly embracing everything from the fruits of Buddhahood down to its causes, it is termed the Buddha as Buddha-nature.
Book thirty-six of the Nirvana Sutra says that the Buddha-nature is not one thing, nor ten things, nor one hundred, one thousand, nor even ten thousand things, nor up to the as-yet-unattained highest perfect enlightenment; the totality of the good, evil, and neutral are all called Buddha-nature.
Buddha-nature is the perfection of the four qualities: the truly permanent, truly blissful, truly self, and truly pure. Eternal because it never changes, pure because it is without defilement, true because it is self-abiding. Because Buddha-nature is unsullied by defilements, while revolving and changing in samsara according to conditions it remains unsullied though in the midst of defilements. Within the person of an ordinary being it is mixed with defilements, like bloody milk --- the sravakas [disciples] are like milk, the pratyekabuddhas [solitary buddhas] like cream, the bodhisattvas like yogurt, and the various buddhas and tathagatas like clarifed butter. Although the level of practice of the commoner and the noble differ, with regard to the quality of the nature of the true cause of Buddhahood they do not differ but are the same. Although the Buddha-nature abides due to its essential nature, this nature is yet without essence. Emptiness is none other than existence, and existence none other than emptiness; neither momentary nor eternal; one nor different; removed from the bifurcations of subject and object, it transcends the four logical alternatives and the eight negations [of Nagarjuna].
In the twenty-eighth book of the Nirvana Sutra the bodhisattva Sinhanada asked about the meaning of the Buddha as Buddha-nature. The answer is that the seeds of all of the buddhas, the highest perfect enlightenment, and the middle path are called Buddha-nature. The sutra also says that "the Buddha-nature is called the emptiness as the ultimate meaning and emptiness as the ultimate meaning is wisdom. One who merely talks about emptiness sees neither the empty nor the nonempty, but the wise one sees both the empty and the nonempty. Empty are all things in samsara, but the nonempty is great liberation. When one sees everything as empty but does not see that which is not empty, it is not called the middle path. Self and no-self are also like this. For these reasons the middle path is called Buddha-nature. Because the Buddha-nature is without change, it is eternal."
The Nirvana Sutra further says: "The sravakas and pratyekabuddhas only see emptiness, but they do not see that which is not empty --- this is not called the middle path." Further, Buddha-nature is called the truth of ultimate meaning, because it dwells eternally without change. Because it is separated from all phenomenal forms, it is as well called the emptiness of ultimate meaning. Because it is separated from all delusion and darkness it is also called wisdom and illumination. Ungraspable and unrestricted, yet one can realize it. One should not rely on a person with wordy explanations but no insight.
Buddha-nature is also called the diamond-like contemplation, because it cannot be destroyed. Buddha-nature is also called nirvana, because it neither arises nor ceases. It is also called Buddha-nature because it is the realization of enlightenment. It is also called the dharma-nature, because it is that which upholds the norm. It is also called the principle of the sangha because it is without error. The sutra says that if a person only has faith in the three jewels of Buddha, doctrine, and community without having faith in the one nature of these three jewels, it is called incomplete faith. Because it is not simply nonexistent like the horns of a rabbit, it is called truly empty; yet because it is not simple nothingness like vacuous space, it is also profoundly existent.
Again, the Hua-yen Sutra calls it formless because it is the unobstructed wisdom in sentient beings. It is also called the "mind's gateway to suchness" because it is intrinsically unchanging. It is also called the "unborn and the unceasing" because the nature of the true conditions and true manifestations of the physical and mental (that is, Buddha-nature) dwells eternally. It is also called the "Buddha-nature that abides of its own nature" because the nature of original enlightenment is uncaused. It is also called the self-nature of nirvana because it is intrinsically quiescent. It is also called the self-nature of wisdom because the self-nature is originally pure and removed from ignorance. It is also called the limit of reality, because the essence of the [Buddha-]nature is true and not false. It is also called suchness in itself, because the nature of the principle is without change. It is not to be found in the five psycho-physical components, the eighteen bases of existence, or in the twelve entrances of cognition, yet neither is it to be found separated from the five psycho-physical components, the eighteen bases of existence, or the twelve entrances of cognition. It is not to be found within living beings nor separate from living beings. It is neither permanent nor impermanent, because it contains both the permanent and the impermanent. It is also called the king of wonderful medicines, because it is able to remove the disease of living beings' passions.
It is also called the treasure house that benefits living beings, as the Nirvana Sutra teaches with a simile about a richman who, in a time of famine, when wealth is hard to come by, opens his treasure house and shares it with all --- so, too, within this world of passions in the time of the semblance doctrine, when living beings are totally perverse and the pure doctrine is exhausted, when the extreme evil of the five heinous crimes increases, leading to the lowest hell of no respite, when perverted views arise and everybody is quarreling with one another and living beings who hold the twelve heterodox views are everywhere, when the dharma is endangered, this, the treasure house of the Buddha doctrine is opened and shared by all --- this is what is meant by the Buddha-nature as the "true cause". All of the living beings of the universe, those of base and noble spirit alike, all possess this nature [of a Buddha], excluding only the grasses, trees, walls, broken tiles, and so on. The sutra teaches the difference between those things without Buddha-nature and those with Buddha-nature and that whichis without Buddha-nature is the earth, trees, tiles, and rocks; that which is distinct from these nonsentient things are all said to have Buddha-nature.
It is only because of ignorance that the gold within the dross is not discovered. If one wishes to have insight, then through emptiness of self and emptiness of phenomena one must dispel belief in the ego-self and the self of things; when fixed in equanimous quiescence, clearly illuminating the identity of principle and phenomena, thoroughly mastering essence and form, and when the mind that follows the object is suppressed, then one will eliminate the self and identify with others. Hearing this without hearing, seeing this without seeing, this is well-seen.
III. The Future Buddha
The third is the Future Buddha. The essence of the above-described Tathagatagarbha Buddha and Buddha-nature Buddha is the true cause of wisdom and the foundation of the truth body. Therefore the essence gives rise to the conditioned, and the practices are pursued according to the conditions --- all are the practices of the matrix of enlightenment, the practices of the Buddha-nature. The tree includes the bud and truth includes untruth, thus all practices are those of the universal bodhisattva of the One Vehicle. With the full completion of the practices the fruits of Buddhahood are realized. Because the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment and the Buddha as Buddha-nature exist within the bondage of ignorance and the realm of causality, there is likewise the future realization of Buddhahood. Therefore, this aspect is termed the "Future Buddha".
We rely on the Lotus Sutra, which teaches that the bodhisattva Never-Despise [Sadaparibhuta] worshipped all among the four classes of beings, that is, monks, nuns, and male and female lay devotees, as the same because they possess the true essence of the matrix of enlightenment and Buddha-nature. Therefore he told them, "You all practice the path of the bodhisattva and in the future will become buddhas", hence this aspect of the refuge of the universal Buddha is termed the "Future Buddha".
IV. The Perceived Buddha
The fourth is the Perceived Buddha. Because all living beings in theuniverse are none other than the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment, the Buddha as the Buddha-nature, and the Future Buddha, the forms of living beings are not different from the true Buddha. This is called the "Perceived Buddha".
According to the "Chapter on Clarifying the Dharma" in the eighth book of the Hua-yen Sutra, the superior and inferior levels of living beings are all to be thought of as the Buddha. Although we may speak of the many levels of living beings and their differences, from the point of view of their essence they are all the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment, the Buddha as the Buddha-nature, and the future Buddha; they should, therefore, all be respected with the thought that indeed they are buddhas. According to the fourth book of the Dasacakra Sutra, we are taught to respect equally the three kinds of monks, that is, those with no precepts, those who break the precepts, and those who keep the precepts, with the thought that they are the true buddhas.
Although we may talk of the difference between holding the precepts and breaking the precepts, because the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment is the same as the Buddha-nature and the Future Buddha, they are one and not two. Therefore, you should respect all, perceiving them as true buddhas, and this is termed "Perceived Buddha".
The essence of the above four Buddhas is all the same, and according to the teachings of the individual sutras all are the perception of the Buddha. The Lanka and the Scripture of Queen Srimala call it the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment, the Nirvana Sutra calls it the Buddha as Buddha-nature, the Lotus Sutra calls it the Future Buddha, and the Hua-yen Sutra and the Dasacakra Sutra call it the Perceived Buddha. Therefore these four buddhas comprise a single Buddha, and thus these four buddhas clarify the essence of the eightfold doctrine
In spite of the common view of Buddhism as non-dogmatic and tolerant, the historical record preserves many examples of Buddhist thinkers and movements that were banned as heretical or subversive. The San-chieh (Three Levels) was a popular and influential Chinese Buddhist movement during the Sui and T'ang periods. "Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood" uses manuscripts discovered at Tun-huang to examine the doctrine and institutional practices of this movement in the larger context of Mahayana doctrine and practice. By viewing San-chieh in the context of Mahayana Buddhism, Hubbard reveals it to be far from heretical and thereby raises important questions about orthodoxy and canon in Buddhism. He shows that many of the hallmark ideas and practices of Chinese Buddhism find an early and unique expression in the San-chieh texts.
Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood
http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/publications/nlarc/Absolute_delusion.htm
The Refuge of the Four Buddhas of the Universal Dharma
I. The Buddha as the Matrix of Enlightenment
[Truth and untruth] are neither different nor the same. [Nonetheless, truth and untruth] are one as well as different, while being neither one nor different. Although separated from attachments, the truth of the universe produces the untruth of the universe; therefore, untruth is dependent upon truth. But truth is not independent, because it is forever dependent on untruth; neither does untruth arise independently, because it is necessarily dependent upon truth. Again, the matrix of enlightenment and all of samsara, the essence and the forms, are also like this, neither the same nor different. Like gold and the ornaments made from gold, the essence and forms are forever the same. Again, the matrix of enlightenment and the phenomenal forms of the universe, the essence and forms, are forever different, as dust and moisture are always distinct; thus they are neither different nor not different. The Scripture of the Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala says: "If there is no doubt about the matrix of enlightenment when it is covered by the innumerable stores of defilements, then there will be no doubt concerning the body of truth that is free of those innumerable stores of defilements."
Further, the Scripture of the Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala teaches that "the matrix of enlightenment is the basis of the repeated cycles of birth and death; because of this matrix of enlightenment the original limits are taught to be unknowable. Because the matrix of enlightenment is the basis, we speak of the cycle of birth and death, and this is well spoken. There is birth and death because of worldly convention, but neither birth nor death is found in the matrix of enlightenment. The matrix of enlightenment is the matrix of the universe, the matrix of the truth-body, the supreme matrix of the transcendent, the matrix whose self-nature is pure." It is wholly quiescent, truly ultimate, and forever separated from all false thoughts and delusion. Yet the untruth of the universe continues to be dependent upon the truth of the universe. The phenomenal forms of the universe continue to be dependent upon the matrix of enlightenment, just as water is the basis of the many waves. Because there is the matrix of enlightenment there are the phenomenal forms of the universe, as there are many waves because of the water.
The matrix of enlightenment has the form of samsara, the repeated cycle of birth and death. "Birth" is the arising of new phenomenal form; "death" is the extinction of old phenomenal form. As with the water and the waves, [the matrix of enlightenment and the repeated cycles of birth and death] arise together and end together. Nonetheless, the water neither arises nor comes to an end. Dependent upon the water, the form of the wave arises and falls. When the new wave arises, the old wave ceases. The phenomenal forms of the universe, therefore, are none other than the matrix of enlightenment, and there is no other essence outside of this essence and these forms. It is like the waves that are nothing other than the water, yet outside of those waves there is no other water.
However, the myriad phenomenal forms of the universe arise because of good and evil actions, not because of the matrix of enlightenment, as the true cause of the arising of the many waves is the wind, not the water. Again, the virtues of the matrix of enlightenment function throughout the universe together with the phenomenal forms as their base, support, and foundation. It is like the virtue of the water whose essence and function permeate thewaves as the basis of all of the waves. Nonetheless, the matrix of enlightenment is different from the myriad phenomenal forms that arise dependent upon it --- the matrix of enlightenment alone is the essence, the phenomenal forms are not the essence, as the essence of water is different from the many waves. Only the water is water, the waves are not the water. Similarly, the truth of the essential nature of the matrix of enlightenment both functions and does not function in relation to the myriad phenomenal forms. It is like the purity of the essence of the water, which both functions and does not function with respect to the waves.
Again, this essence is called the storehouse consciousness. Therefore the last book of the Ghanavyuha Sutra says, "the Buddha has taught the matrix of enlightenment as the storehouse consciousness. Delusory thinking cannot know that this matrix is the storehouse consciousness." There are two basic explanations with regard to this, that of the principle and the mind. The matrix of enlightenment is the principle, and worldly consciousness is the mind. The matrix is true, and consciousness provisional. It is also called the four unconditioned noble truths: although suffering and its cause are destroyed, nothing is actually destroyed. Although the truths of extinction and the path are obtained, nothing is actually obtained. Therefore, because nothing is actually destroyed or obtained, there is neither increase nor decrease. It is also called the one truth because it is ultimate and true, with neither destruction nor attainment. It is also called the one foundation because it is the unsurpassed foundation of all practice and understanding inthe universe. It is also called suchness in itself, because it is equal and non-dual. It is also called the totality of the universe because there is neither increase nor decrease. It is also called the store-consciousness because it appropriates and stores all the various phenomena.
The matrix of enlightenment and the conditions and forms have no beginning or end, and thus truth and untruth are dependent upon eachother, neither separate nor distinct. Therefore the Lankavatara Sutra states in a simile that "the storehouse consciousness is like the expansive ocean and waves. Because of violent winds the great waves arise, which roll ceaselessly over the depths. The ocean of the store-consciousness is eternally abiding, and that which is aroused by the wind is the world of objects. It is the waves of consciousness that arise, jumping and dancing about." Sometimes the true is changed into the untrue, like a multitalented actor. Sometimes the untrue is transformed into the true, like a golden ornament [that can return to its original state of pure gold]. The true cause [that is, matrix of enlightenment] and the conditioned cause [that is, conditioned phenomena] are both the same and different like milk, cream, and clarifed butter.
Truth and untruth both take shape within the same matrix, like the ocean and the waves. The One Vehicle [of the Buddhas] and the Three Vehicles [of the bodhisattva, the sravaka, and the pratyekabuddha] are both the same and different, like the Anavatapta Lake and the eight rivers that flow from it. All of these causes and conditions are thoroughly explained in various similes within the sutras. Therein it is taught that the matrix of enlightenment gives rise to the cause and fully ripens the fruit, changing the small into the great and transforming the common into the noble. All this is due to the efficacious power of the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment.
II. The Buddha-Nature Buddha
The second item is the Buddha that exists within all living beings as the nature of a Buddha. Some texts talk of this Buddha-nature as a principle, while others speak of it as something acquired through practice. Some speak of this nature as the cause of enlightenment and others as a result. Now, in clarifying this we only rely on the thirty-eighth book of the Nirvana Sutra, which illuminates the Buddha-nature as the "true cause". Therein it states that all of the living beings of the universe, ordinary persons as well as sages, have this nature, as do all of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Thus, from the perspective of the result, the name is established and called Buddha-nature. However, this Buddha-nature is neither cause nor result. Existing as the cause it is termed cause, existing as the result it is termed result.
Related to the former concept of the matrix of enlightenment, just as "observe" and "watch" are different words [but both mean "to see"], with regard to conditions there is a slight difference in meaning [between the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment and the Buddha as the nature of the Buddha in all living beings]. Buddha-nature is so called because it includes the permanence of the fruits of Buddhahood throughout the universe as well as the permanence of the causes of Buddhahood throughout the universe. Wholly embracing everything from the fruits of Buddhahood down to its causes, it is termed the Buddha as Buddha-nature.
Book thirty-six of the Nirvana Sutra says that the Buddha-nature is not one thing, nor ten things, nor one hundred, one thousand, nor even ten thousand things, nor up to the as-yet-unattained highest perfect enlightenment; the totality of the good, evil, and neutral are all called Buddha-nature.
Buddha-nature is the perfection of the four qualities: the truly permanent, truly blissful, truly self, and truly pure. Eternal because it never changes, pure because it is without defilement, true because it is self-abiding. Because Buddha-nature is unsullied by defilements, while revolving and changing in samsara according to conditions it remains unsullied though in the midst of defilements. Within the person of an ordinary being it is mixed with defilements, like bloody milk --- the sravakas [disciples] are like milk, the pratyekabuddhas [solitary buddhas] like cream, the bodhisattvas like yogurt, and the various buddhas and tathagatas like clarifed butter. Although the level of practice of the commoner and the noble differ, with regard to the quality of the nature of the true cause of Buddhahood they do not differ but are the same. Although the Buddha-nature abides due to its essential nature, this nature is yet without essence. Emptiness is none other than existence, and existence none other than emptiness; neither momentary nor eternal; one nor different; removed from the bifurcations of subject and object, it transcends the four logical alternatives and the eight negations [of Nagarjuna].
In the twenty-eighth book of the Nirvana Sutra the bodhisattva Sinhanada asked about the meaning of the Buddha as Buddha-nature. The answer is that the seeds of all of the buddhas, the highest perfect enlightenment, and the middle path are called Buddha-nature. The sutra also says that "the Buddha-nature is called the emptiness as the ultimate meaning and emptiness as the ultimate meaning is wisdom. One who merely talks about emptiness sees neither the empty nor the nonempty, but the wise one sees both the empty and the nonempty. Empty are all things in samsara, but the nonempty is great liberation. When one sees everything as empty but does not see that which is not empty, it is not called the middle path. Self and no-self are also like this. For these reasons the middle path is called Buddha-nature. Because the Buddha-nature is without change, it is eternal."
The Nirvana Sutra further says: "The sravakas and pratyekabuddhas only see emptiness, but they do not see that which is not empty --- this is not called the middle path." Further, Buddha-nature is called the truth of ultimate meaning, because it dwells eternally without change. Because it is separated from all phenomenal forms, it is as well called the emptiness of ultimate meaning. Because it is separated from all delusion and darkness it is also called wisdom and illumination. Ungraspable and unrestricted, yet one can realize it. One should not rely on a person with wordy explanations but no insight.
Buddha-nature is also called the diamond-like contemplation, because it cannot be destroyed. Buddha-nature is also called nirvana, because it neither arises nor ceases. It is also called Buddha-nature because it is the realization of enlightenment. It is also called the dharma-nature, because it is that which upholds the norm. It is also called the principle of the sangha because it is without error. The sutra says that if a person only has faith in the three jewels of Buddha, doctrine, and community without having faith in the one nature of these three jewels, it is called incomplete faith. Because it is not simply nonexistent like the horns of a rabbit, it is called truly empty; yet because it is not simple nothingness like vacuous space, it is also profoundly existent.
Again, the Hua-yen Sutra calls it formless because it is the unobstructed wisdom in sentient beings. It is also called the "mind's gateway to suchness" because it is intrinsically unchanging. It is also called the "unborn and the unceasing" because the nature of the true conditions and true manifestations of the physical and mental (that is, Buddha-nature) dwells eternally. It is also called the "Buddha-nature that abides of its own nature" because the nature of original enlightenment is uncaused. It is also called the self-nature of nirvana because it is intrinsically quiescent. It is also called the self-nature of wisdom because the self-nature is originally pure and removed from ignorance. It is also called the limit of reality, because the essence of the [Buddha-]nature is true and not false. It is also called suchness in itself, because the nature of the principle is without change. It is not to be found in the five psycho-physical components, the eighteen bases of existence, or in the twelve entrances of cognition, yet neither is it to be found separated from the five psycho-physical components, the eighteen bases of existence, or the twelve entrances of cognition. It is not to be found within living beings nor separate from living beings. It is neither permanent nor impermanent, because it contains both the permanent and the impermanent. It is also called the king of wonderful medicines, because it is able to remove the disease of living beings' passions.
It is also called the treasure house that benefits living beings, as the Nirvana Sutra teaches with a simile about a richman who, in a time of famine, when wealth is hard to come by, opens his treasure house and shares it with all --- so, too, within this world of passions in the time of the semblance doctrine, when living beings are totally perverse and the pure doctrine is exhausted, when the extreme evil of the five heinous crimes increases, leading to the lowest hell of no respite, when perverted views arise and everybody is quarreling with one another and living beings who hold the twelve heterodox views are everywhere, when the dharma is endangered, this, the treasure house of the Buddha doctrine is opened and shared by all --- this is what is meant by the Buddha-nature as the "true cause". All of the living beings of the universe, those of base and noble spirit alike, all possess this nature [of a Buddha], excluding only the grasses, trees, walls, broken tiles, and so on. The sutra teaches the difference between those things without Buddha-nature and those with Buddha-nature and that whichis without Buddha-nature is the earth, trees, tiles, and rocks; that which is distinct from these nonsentient things are all said to have Buddha-nature.
It is only because of ignorance that the gold within the dross is not discovered. If one wishes to have insight, then through emptiness of self and emptiness of phenomena one must dispel belief in the ego-self and the self of things; when fixed in equanimous quiescence, clearly illuminating the identity of principle and phenomena, thoroughly mastering essence and form, and when the mind that follows the object is suppressed, then one will eliminate the self and identify with others. Hearing this without hearing, seeing this without seeing, this is well-seen.
III. The Future Buddha
The third is the Future Buddha. The essence of the above-described Tathagatagarbha Buddha and Buddha-nature Buddha is the true cause of wisdom and the foundation of the truth body. Therefore the essence gives rise to the conditioned, and the practices are pursued according to the conditions --- all are the practices of the matrix of enlightenment, the practices of the Buddha-nature. The tree includes the bud and truth includes untruth, thus all practices are those of the universal bodhisattva of the One Vehicle. With the full completion of the practices the fruits of Buddhahood are realized. Because the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment and the Buddha as Buddha-nature exist within the bondage of ignorance and the realm of causality, there is likewise the future realization of Buddhahood. Therefore, this aspect is termed the "Future Buddha".
We rely on the Lotus Sutra, which teaches that the bodhisattva Never-Despise [Sadaparibhuta] worshipped all among the four classes of beings, that is, monks, nuns, and male and female lay devotees, as the same because they possess the true essence of the matrix of enlightenment and Buddha-nature. Therefore he told them, "You all practice the path of the bodhisattva and in the future will become buddhas", hence this aspect of the refuge of the universal Buddha is termed the "Future Buddha".
IV. The Perceived Buddha
The fourth is the Perceived Buddha. Because all living beings in theuniverse are none other than the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment, the Buddha as the Buddha-nature, and the Future Buddha, the forms of living beings are not different from the true Buddha. This is called the "Perceived Buddha".
According to the "Chapter on Clarifying the Dharma" in the eighth book of the Hua-yen Sutra, the superior and inferior levels of living beings are all to be thought of as the Buddha. Although we may speak of the many levels of living beings and their differences, from the point of view of their essence they are all the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment, the Buddha as the Buddha-nature, and the future Buddha; they should, therefore, all be respected with the thought that indeed they are buddhas. According to the fourth book of the Dasacakra Sutra, we are taught to respect equally the three kinds of monks, that is, those with no precepts, those who break the precepts, and those who keep the precepts, with the thought that they are the true buddhas.
Although we may talk of the difference between holding the precepts and breaking the precepts, because the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment is the same as the Buddha-nature and the Future Buddha, they are one and not two. Therefore, you should respect all, perceiving them as true buddhas, and this is termed "Perceived Buddha".
The essence of the above four Buddhas is all the same, and according to the teachings of the individual sutras all are the perception of the Buddha. The Lanka and the Scripture of Queen Srimala call it the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment, the Nirvana Sutra calls it the Buddha as Buddha-nature, the Lotus Sutra calls it the Future Buddha, and the Hua-yen Sutra and the Dasacakra Sutra call it the Perceived Buddha. Therefore these four buddhas comprise a single Buddha, and thus these four buddhas clarify the essence of the eightfold doctrine
June 05, 2011
The Zen Commandments
When our mind is constantly focused on the future or the past, there is no way to rationally affect a change in our present condition.
Live in the present by practicing breathing meditation
To change this pattern of our mind, from always thinking about and fearing future or past actions, sit calmly for five minutes a day and practice breathing mediation. By doing this, we learn to focus strictly on the present, by focusing solely on the sensation of the breath as it enters and exits our body. And when a thought does arise, instead of allowing it to lead us out of the present moment, to the next task at hand, or next moment of worry about something yet to come, as we do now, gently bless the thought and let it go, without following it. Then, return our concentration to what is happening right now - the sensation of our breath as it enters and exits our body.
Learn how to live without fear by living in the present
The purpose of Buddhist breathing meditation is to allow us to find the beauty, joy and simplicity of living life right now in the present moment. By properly practicing breathing meditation we will quickly become aware as soon as our mind slips backwards into the past or begin to think about what might happen in the future. Once we are aware of this, we can gently bring our mind back into the present moment; by practicing in this way, we learn not to be led by fears of what might happen tomorrow or even awful things that happened in our past.
We can even eliminate basic nervousness, which is another form of fear or worry. If for example we have a job interview, or a presentation, by doing a breathing meditation prior to it, we stop projecting our fears into the future, which only serve to make us nervous. Instead, the meditation puts us back in the present and allows us to present our best, most confident side to our potential employer or our audience.
By training our minds in this way, we learn not to let our fears of the future or past have any power over us. Instead, we focus on the now. Eventually, we will find great calm and peace in living in the present moment. When we are completely present in the moment and work from that moment, we can use all the energy we used to expend in worry and fear to improve the quality of our life every moment of every day. For now is all we truly have.
References: The Zen Commandments - by Dean Sluyler
http://www.suite101.com/content/letting-go-of-fears-and-worries-a24038
Taken from The Buddha Forum, post from Venerable Dharmakara. Http://www.buddhaforum.org
Live in the present by practicing breathing meditation
To change this pattern of our mind, from always thinking about and fearing future or past actions, sit calmly for five minutes a day and practice breathing mediation. By doing this, we learn to focus strictly on the present, by focusing solely on the sensation of the breath as it enters and exits our body. And when a thought does arise, instead of allowing it to lead us out of the present moment, to the next task at hand, or next moment of worry about something yet to come, as we do now, gently bless the thought and let it go, without following it. Then, return our concentration to what is happening right now - the sensation of our breath as it enters and exits our body.
Learn how to live without fear by living in the present
The purpose of Buddhist breathing meditation is to allow us to find the beauty, joy and simplicity of living life right now in the present moment. By properly practicing breathing meditation we will quickly become aware as soon as our mind slips backwards into the past or begin to think about what might happen in the future. Once we are aware of this, we can gently bring our mind back into the present moment; by practicing in this way, we learn not to be led by fears of what might happen tomorrow or even awful things that happened in our past.
We can even eliminate basic nervousness, which is another form of fear or worry. If for example we have a job interview, or a presentation, by doing a breathing meditation prior to it, we stop projecting our fears into the future, which only serve to make us nervous. Instead, the meditation puts us back in the present and allows us to present our best, most confident side to our potential employer or our audience.
By training our minds in this way, we learn not to let our fears of the future or past have any power over us. Instead, we focus on the now. Eventually, we will find great calm and peace in living in the present moment. When we are completely present in the moment and work from that moment, we can use all the energy we used to expend in worry and fear to improve the quality of our life every moment of every day. For now is all we truly have.
References: The Zen Commandments - by Dean Sluyler
http://www.suite101.com/content/letting-go-of-fears-and-worries-a24038
Taken from The Buddha Forum, post from Venerable Dharmakara. Http://www.buddhaforum.org
June 04, 2011
Who is Vajrasattva?
Who is Vajrasattva?
Tibetan: dor je sem pa.
English: the Vajra Hero.
Vajrasattva means "diamond being" or "vajra-being". Its character is as strong as a vajra. By practicing his Dharma, the follower can avoid all evil thoughts, eliminate vexations and have unlimited happiness and wisdom. Meanwhile the guardian deities will forgive them for any mistakes they have made in practicing Buddhism and bestow them a fortune that makes up for any loss. Vajrasattvathe dhyani-boddhisattva or spiritual son of dhyani-buddha, Akshobhya is also regarded as chief of the five dhyani-buddhas. He is usually represented seated on a lotus posture. He wears a crown in which there is often an image of Akshobhya, and the dress and ornaments of Dhyani-Buddhisattva. Against his breast, he generally holds vajra in his right hand; but the vajra may be balanced on its point in the palm of his hand. With the left, he holds the ghanta on his hip. If standing, he balances the vajra in his right hand against his breast, while in the left, hanging pendent, he presses the ghanta against leg. Unlike the other Dhyan-Boddhas, he is always crowned with or without his sakti whom he presses against his breast in the yab-yum attitude, with the right hand holding vajra, while the left holds the ghanta on his hip.
http://discussions-neighborhoods.ebay.com/topic/Antiques-Antiquing-Discussions/Vajrasattva/1300087401
Tibetan: dor je sem pa.
English: the Vajra Hero.
Vajrasattva means "diamond being" or "vajra-being". Its character is as strong as a vajra. By practicing his Dharma, the follower can avoid all evil thoughts, eliminate vexations and have unlimited happiness and wisdom. Meanwhile the guardian deities will forgive them for any mistakes they have made in practicing Buddhism and bestow them a fortune that makes up for any loss. Vajrasattvathe dhyani-boddhisattva or spiritual son of dhyani-buddha, Akshobhya is also regarded as chief of the five dhyani-buddhas. He is usually represented seated on a lotus posture. He wears a crown in which there is often an image of Akshobhya, and the dress and ornaments of Dhyani-Buddhisattva. Against his breast, he generally holds vajra in his right hand; but the vajra may be balanced on its point in the palm of his hand. With the left, he holds the ghanta on his hip. If standing, he balances the vajra in his right hand against his breast, while in the left, hanging pendent, he presses the ghanta against leg. Unlike the other Dhyan-Boddhas, he is always crowned with or without his sakti whom he presses against his breast in the yab-yum attitude, with the right hand holding vajra, while the left holds the ghanta on his hip.
http://discussions-neighborhoods.ebay.com/topic/Antiques-Antiquing-Discussions/Vajrasattva/1300087401
The Lotus Sutra
Here is an excerpt from an article at Wikipedia which discusses the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra is an important and popular text, and you can read more here:
Content
This sutra is known for its extensive instruction on the concept and usage of skillful means – (Sanskrit: upāya, Japanese: hōben), the seventh paramita or perfection of a Bodhisattva – mostly in the form of parables. It is also one of the first sutras to use the term Mahāyāna, or "Great Vehicle", Buddhism. Another concept introduced by the Lotus Sutra is the idea that the Buddha is an eternal entity, who achieved nirvana eons ago, but willingly chose to remain in the cycle of rebirth (samsara) to help teach beings the Dharma time and again. He reveals himself as the "father" of all beings and evinces the loving care of just such a father. Moreover, the sutra indicates that even after the Parinirvana (apparent physical death) of a Buddha, that Buddha continues to be real and to be capable of communicating with the world.
The idea that the physical death of a Buddha is the termination of that Buddha is graphically refuted by the movement and meaning of the scripture, in which another Buddha, who passed long before, appears and communicates with Shakyamuni himself. In the vision of the Lotus Sutra, Buddhas are ultimately immortal. A similar doctrine of the eternality of Buddhas is repeatedly expounded in the tathāgatagarbha sutras, which share certain family resemblances with the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
The Lotus Sutra also indicates (in Chapter 4) that emptiness (śūnyatā) is not the ultimate vision to be attained by the aspirant Bodhisattva: the attainment of Buddha Wisdom is indicated to be a bliss-bestowing treasure that transcends seeing all as merely empty or merely labeled.
In terms of literary style, the Lotus Sutra illustrates a sense of timelessness and the inconceivable, often using large numbers and measurements of time and space. Some of the other Buddhas mentioned in the Lotus Sutra are said to have lifetimes of dozens or hundreds of kalpas, while the number of Bodhisattvas mentioned in the "Earth Bodhisattva" chapter number in the billions, if not more. The Lotus Sutra also often alludes to a special teaching that supersedes everything else that the Buddha has taught, but the Sutra never actually states what that teaching is. This is said to be in keeping with the general Mahāyāna Buddhist view that the highest teaching cannot be expressed in words.
The ultimate teaching of the sutra, however, is implied to the reader that "full Buddhahood" is only arrived at by exposure to the truths expressed implicitly in the Lotus Sutra via its many parables and references to a heretofore less clearly imagined cosmological order. Skillful means of most enlightened Buddhas is itself the highest teaching (the "Lotus Sutra" itself), in conjunction with the sutra's stated tenets that all other teachings are subservient to, propagated by and in the service of this highest truth and teaching aimed at creating "full Buddhas" out of pratyekabuddhas, lesser buddhas and bodhisattvas. The text also implies a parent-child relationship between the innumerable Buddhas and human beings and other types of beings, with an explicit indication that all religions and paths are in some way or another part of the skillful means of this highest teaching, which reaches its fullest expression in the Lotus Sutra. The various religious institutions and their doctrinal proponents notwithstanding, all paths are then, officially speaking, part of the skillful means and plan of Buddhism, thus the sutra's former disavowal of all competitive doctrinal disputes.
Crucially, not only are there multiple Buddhas in this view, but an infinite stream of Buddhas extending through unquantifiable eons of time ("thousands of kotis of kalpas") in a ceaseless cycle of creations and conflagrations.
In the vision set out in this sutra, moreover, not only are Buddhas innumerable, but the universe encompasses realms of gods, devas, dragons and other mythological beings, requiring numerous dimensions to contain them. Buddhas are portrayed as the patient teachers of all such beings.
Some sources consider the Lotus Sutra to have a prologue and epilogue: respectively the Innumerable Meanings Sutra (無量義經 Ch: Wú Liáng Yì Jīng Jp: Muryōgi Kyō) and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy (普賢經 Ch: Pǔ Xián Jīng Jp: Fugen Kyō).
The Lotus Sutra claims to be superior to all other sutras. Chapter ten of the Burton Watson translation states:
".. Medicine King, now I say to you, I have preached various sutras, and among those sutras the Lotus is foremost!"
Chapter fourteen states:
"Among the sutras, it holds the highest place."
Chapter sixteen also reveals that Shakyamuni Buddha did not attain Buddhahood in his current lifetime, but in fact attained it countless lifetimes earlier. Chapter sixteen states:
"In all the worlds the heavenly and human beings and asuras all believe that the present Shakyamuni Buddha, after leaving the palace of the Shakyas, seated himself in the place of practice not far from the city of Gaya and there attained annuttara-samyak-sambodhi. But good men, it has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood."
Content
This sutra is known for its extensive instruction on the concept and usage of skillful means – (Sanskrit: upāya, Japanese: hōben), the seventh paramita or perfection of a Bodhisattva – mostly in the form of parables. It is also one of the first sutras to use the term Mahāyāna, or "Great Vehicle", Buddhism. Another concept introduced by the Lotus Sutra is the idea that the Buddha is an eternal entity, who achieved nirvana eons ago, but willingly chose to remain in the cycle of rebirth (samsara) to help teach beings the Dharma time and again. He reveals himself as the "father" of all beings and evinces the loving care of just such a father. Moreover, the sutra indicates that even after the Parinirvana (apparent physical death) of a Buddha, that Buddha continues to be real and to be capable of communicating with the world.
The idea that the physical death of a Buddha is the termination of that Buddha is graphically refuted by the movement and meaning of the scripture, in which another Buddha, who passed long before, appears and communicates with Shakyamuni himself. In the vision of the Lotus Sutra, Buddhas are ultimately immortal. A similar doctrine of the eternality of Buddhas is repeatedly expounded in the tathāgatagarbha sutras, which share certain family resemblances with the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
The Lotus Sutra also indicates (in Chapter 4) that emptiness (śūnyatā) is not the ultimate vision to be attained by the aspirant Bodhisattva: the attainment of Buddha Wisdom is indicated to be a bliss-bestowing treasure that transcends seeing all as merely empty or merely labeled.
In terms of literary style, the Lotus Sutra illustrates a sense of timelessness and the inconceivable, often using large numbers and measurements of time and space. Some of the other Buddhas mentioned in the Lotus Sutra are said to have lifetimes of dozens or hundreds of kalpas, while the number of Bodhisattvas mentioned in the "Earth Bodhisattva" chapter number in the billions, if not more. The Lotus Sutra also often alludes to a special teaching that supersedes everything else that the Buddha has taught, but the Sutra never actually states what that teaching is. This is said to be in keeping with the general Mahāyāna Buddhist view that the highest teaching cannot be expressed in words.
The ultimate teaching of the sutra, however, is implied to the reader that "full Buddhahood" is only arrived at by exposure to the truths expressed implicitly in the Lotus Sutra via its many parables and references to a heretofore less clearly imagined cosmological order. Skillful means of most enlightened Buddhas is itself the highest teaching (the "Lotus Sutra" itself), in conjunction with the sutra's stated tenets that all other teachings are subservient to, propagated by and in the service of this highest truth and teaching aimed at creating "full Buddhas" out of pratyekabuddhas, lesser buddhas and bodhisattvas. The text also implies a parent-child relationship between the innumerable Buddhas and human beings and other types of beings, with an explicit indication that all religions and paths are in some way or another part of the skillful means of this highest teaching, which reaches its fullest expression in the Lotus Sutra. The various religious institutions and their doctrinal proponents notwithstanding, all paths are then, officially speaking, part of the skillful means and plan of Buddhism, thus the sutra's former disavowal of all competitive doctrinal disputes.
Crucially, not only are there multiple Buddhas in this view, but an infinite stream of Buddhas extending through unquantifiable eons of time ("thousands of kotis of kalpas") in a ceaseless cycle of creations and conflagrations.
In the vision set out in this sutra, moreover, not only are Buddhas innumerable, but the universe encompasses realms of gods, devas, dragons and other mythological beings, requiring numerous dimensions to contain them. Buddhas are portrayed as the patient teachers of all such beings.
Some sources consider the Lotus Sutra to have a prologue and epilogue: respectively the Innumerable Meanings Sutra (無量義經 Ch: Wú Liáng Yì Jīng Jp: Muryōgi Kyō) and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy (普賢經 Ch: Pǔ Xián Jīng Jp: Fugen Kyō).
The Lotus Sutra claims to be superior to all other sutras. Chapter ten of the Burton Watson translation states:
".. Medicine King, now I say to you, I have preached various sutras, and among those sutras the Lotus is foremost!"
Chapter fourteen states:
"Among the sutras, it holds the highest place."
Chapter sixteen also reveals that Shakyamuni Buddha did not attain Buddhahood in his current lifetime, but in fact attained it countless lifetimes earlier. Chapter sixteen states:
"In all the worlds the heavenly and human beings and asuras all believe that the present Shakyamuni Buddha, after leaving the palace of the Shakyas, seated himself in the place of practice not far from the city of Gaya and there attained annuttara-samyak-sambodhi. But good men, it has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood."
Shrine Offerings
This is from a post at the discussion forum called "Buddha Forum." The author is Venerable Dharmakara. The site is at www.buddhaforum.org
This is a simple explanation of the meaning behind Buddhist devotional practices one see in shrines and temples, such as bowing, prostrating, lighting incense and candles, offering of flowers and fruit, which is common in all traditions.
Buddhist Shrines and Images
While it is difficult to imagine Buddhism without the Buddha image or Rupa, it was not until about 500 years after the passing away (Parinirvana) that the practice of making images of the Buddha started. Since that time, Buddha images have been the object of Buddhist devotion and identify for over 2000 years, acting as the inspirational focus and the means for devotees to express their reverence and gratitude for the Buddha's Dharma or Teachings.
The reasons for the Buddha image on the shrine are:
• to remind one of the qualities of Perfect Wisdom and Perfect Compassion of the Buddha,
• it serves to inspire us to develop these qualities as we recall the greatness of the Buddha and His Teachings.
Some days, we may feel agitated, angry or depressed. When we pass by a shrine in our homes or visit a temple, and see the peaceful image of the Buddha, it helps us to remember that there are beings that are peaceful and we can become like them too. Automatically, our minds settle down.
Buddhists pay respect to the Buddha to show their gratitude to Him for showing the way to Enlightenment and liberation by:
Folded Palms
• Place the palms together and raise them to the level of the chest.
• This gesture expresses our deep reverence to the Triple Gem - Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Prostration
• Prostrating before an image of the Buddha or members of the Sangha expresses our deep veneration.
• This also helps us to overcome egoistic feelings (pride) to become more ready to listen to the Teaching of the Buddha.
• As we prostrate before the Buddha images, we recall the qualities of the Buddha and develop respect for their qualities such as loving-kindness, compassion, virtue, patience, concentration and wisdom. Showing respect to the Buddha and his qualities inspires us to develop these extraordinary qualities ourselves.
What is the purpose of making offerings to the Buddha?
• We make offerings not because the Buddha needs them - the Buddha is an enlightened being, He certainly does not need an incense stick to be happy!
• Nor do we make offerings to win the Buddha's favour. The Buddha developed universal loving-kindness and compassion long ago and won't be swayed by flattery and bribery the way we ordinary beings are.
• We make offerings to create positive energy and develop good qualities such as giving with a respectful attitude and gratitude.
• Moreover, the offerings remind us of certain teachings of the Buddha.
Offering of Light (Lamp/Candle)
• Light symbolizes wisdom.
• Light drives away darkness.
• Similarly, the light of wisdom dispels the darkness of ignorance.
Offering of Incense
• When incense is lit, its fragrance spreads.
• Incense symbolizes the fragrance of pure moral conduct.
• This reminds us to cultivate good conduct.
Offering of Water
• Water symbolizes purity, clarity and calmness.
• This reminds us to practise the Buddha's teachings, so as to cleanse our minds, which are full of desire, ill-will and ignorance, and to attain the state of purity.
Offering of Fruit
• Fruit symbolizes the ultimate fruit of Enlightenment which is our goal.
• Fruit also reminds us that all actions will have their effect.
Offering of Flowers
• The freshness, fragrance and beauty of flowers are impermanent.
• Fresh and beautiful flowers will soon become withered, scentless and discoloured.
• This reminds us of the Buddha's teaching that all things are impermanent.
• We should value what we have now and live in the present.
The Lotus
The most common flower seen in Buddhist shrines, or on the base of statues, are lotuses, as they represent the potential or actuality of Enlightenment.
• The lotus grows out of the mud and blossoms above the water surface, yet it is not dirtied by the mud from which it grows.
• The Buddha is likened to the lotus. Like a lotus that rises out of a muddy pond, the Buddha rose above the defilements and sufferings of life.
• We are right now surrounded by defilements and sufferings, just as the lotus seed is surrounded by dirt, mud and filth. We should rise above our defilements and sufferings, just like the lotus flower arising above the muddy water.
• This serves to remind us of our own potential Buddhahood. We may have defilements today, but we all have the potential of growing out of defilements and achieving wisdom like the Buddha.
Source: Buddhist Studies
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/observances.htm
This is a simple explanation of the meaning behind Buddhist devotional practices one see in shrines and temples, such as bowing, prostrating, lighting incense and candles, offering of flowers and fruit, which is common in all traditions.
Buddhist Shrines and Images
While it is difficult to imagine Buddhism without the Buddha image or Rupa, it was not until about 500 years after the passing away (Parinirvana) that the practice of making images of the Buddha started. Since that time, Buddha images have been the object of Buddhist devotion and identify for over 2000 years, acting as the inspirational focus and the means for devotees to express their reverence and gratitude for the Buddha's Dharma or Teachings.
The reasons for the Buddha image on the shrine are:
• to remind one of the qualities of Perfect Wisdom and Perfect Compassion of the Buddha,
• it serves to inspire us to develop these qualities as we recall the greatness of the Buddha and His Teachings.
Some days, we may feel agitated, angry or depressed. When we pass by a shrine in our homes or visit a temple, and see the peaceful image of the Buddha, it helps us to remember that there are beings that are peaceful and we can become like them too. Automatically, our minds settle down.
Buddhists pay respect to the Buddha to show their gratitude to Him for showing the way to Enlightenment and liberation by:
Folded Palms
• Place the palms together and raise them to the level of the chest.
• This gesture expresses our deep reverence to the Triple Gem - Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Prostration
• Prostrating before an image of the Buddha or members of the Sangha expresses our deep veneration.
• This also helps us to overcome egoistic feelings (pride) to become more ready to listen to the Teaching of the Buddha.
• As we prostrate before the Buddha images, we recall the qualities of the Buddha and develop respect for their qualities such as loving-kindness, compassion, virtue, patience, concentration and wisdom. Showing respect to the Buddha and his qualities inspires us to develop these extraordinary qualities ourselves.
What is the purpose of making offerings to the Buddha?
• We make offerings not because the Buddha needs them - the Buddha is an enlightened being, He certainly does not need an incense stick to be happy!
• Nor do we make offerings to win the Buddha's favour. The Buddha developed universal loving-kindness and compassion long ago and won't be swayed by flattery and bribery the way we ordinary beings are.
• We make offerings to create positive energy and develop good qualities such as giving with a respectful attitude and gratitude.
• Moreover, the offerings remind us of certain teachings of the Buddha.
Offering of Light (Lamp/Candle)
• Light symbolizes wisdom.
• Light drives away darkness.
• Similarly, the light of wisdom dispels the darkness of ignorance.
Offering of Incense
• When incense is lit, its fragrance spreads.
• Incense symbolizes the fragrance of pure moral conduct.
• This reminds us to cultivate good conduct.
Offering of Water
• Water symbolizes purity, clarity and calmness.
• This reminds us to practise the Buddha's teachings, so as to cleanse our minds, which are full of desire, ill-will and ignorance, and to attain the state of purity.
Offering of Fruit
• Fruit symbolizes the ultimate fruit of Enlightenment which is our goal.
• Fruit also reminds us that all actions will have their effect.
Offering of Flowers
• The freshness, fragrance and beauty of flowers are impermanent.
• Fresh and beautiful flowers will soon become withered, scentless and discoloured.
• This reminds us of the Buddha's teaching that all things are impermanent.
• We should value what we have now and live in the present.
The Lotus
The most common flower seen in Buddhist shrines, or on the base of statues, are lotuses, as they represent the potential or actuality of Enlightenment.
• The lotus grows out of the mud and blossoms above the water surface, yet it is not dirtied by the mud from which it grows.
• The Buddha is likened to the lotus. Like a lotus that rises out of a muddy pond, the Buddha rose above the defilements and sufferings of life.
• We are right now surrounded by defilements and sufferings, just as the lotus seed is surrounded by dirt, mud and filth. We should rise above our defilements and sufferings, just like the lotus flower arising above the muddy water.
• This serves to remind us of our own potential Buddhahood. We may have defilements today, but we all have the potential of growing out of defilements and achieving wisdom like the Buddha.
Source: Buddhist Studies
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/observances.htm
June 01, 2011
Green Tara Mantra
Green Tara mantra
Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā / Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
Tara, whose name means "star" or "she who ferries across," is a Bodhisattva of compassion who manifests in female form. In Tibetan, Tara is known as "Dölma" (Sgrol-ma), or "She Who Saves." In particular she represents compassion in action, since she’s in the process of stepping from her lotus throne in order to help sentient beings.
The syllable Om has no conceptual meaning, and is sound representing the entire universe, past present and future. You can read more about Om on the page discussing the Om shanti shanti shanti mantra.
Symbolic translation
The central part of Tara’s mantra is a loving play on her name. According to Sangharakshita, a traditional explanation of the mantra is that the variations of her name represent three progressive stages of salvation.
1. Tāre represents salvation from mundane dangers and suffering. Tara is seem as a savioress who can give aid from material threats such as floods, crime, wild animals, and traffic accidents. Tara is therefore said to protect against ordinary worldly dangers.
Tara is a bodhisattva embodying compassion in the female form of a young goddess.
2. Tuttāre represents deliverance into the spiritual path conceived in terms of individual salvation. In traditional terms, this is the path of the Arhant, which leads to individual liberation from suffering. This is seen in Mahayana Buddhism as a kind of enlightenment in which compassion does not figure strongly. Tara therefore offers individual protection from the spiritual dangers of greed, hatred, and delusion: the three factors that cause us individual suffering.
3. Lastly, ture represents the culmination of the spiritual path in terms of deliverance into the altruistic path of universal salvation – the Bodhisattva path. In the Bodhisattva path we aspire for personal enlightenment, but we also connect compassionately with the sufferings of others, and strive to liberate them at the same time as we seek enlightenment ourselves. Tara therefore delivers us from a narrow conception of the spiritual life. She saves us from the notion that spiritual progress is about narrowly liberating ourselves from our own suffering, and instead leads us to see that true spiritual progress involves having compassion for others.
By the time we have been liberated from mundane dangers, liberated from a narrow conception of the spiritual path, and led to a realization of compassion, we have effectively become Tara. In Buddhist practice the “deities” represent our own inner potential. We are all potentially Tara. We can all become Tara.
Svaha, according to Monier Monier-William’s Sanskrit Dictionary, means: "Hail!", "Hail to!" or "May a blessing rest on!" We could see this final blessing as symbolizing the recognition that we are, ultimately, Tara.
Her mantra can therefore be rendered as something like "OM! Hail to Tara (in her three roles as a savioress)!" although this may one of those occasions when the mantra is best left untranslated, because the words have no “meaning” in the normal sense of the word. Instead they are more like a play on her name, like variations in a piece of music by Bach or like improvisations in a piece of jazz music.
Literal translation
There’s a more literal meaning of the mantra as well:
“Tare” is the vocative form of Tara, so it means “O Tara!”
“Tu” is an exclamation that can mean “pray! I beg, do, now, then,” and so “tuttare” could mean something like “I entreat you, O Tara” or “I beg you, O Tara.”
“Ture” is probably the vocative form of “tura,” which means “quick, willing, prompt,” and so it would mean something like “O swift one!”
So the mantra could be rendered as “OM! O Tara! I entreat you, O Tara! O swift one! Hail!
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
Pronunciation notes:
ā is like a in father
e is ay in lay
v is pronounced halfway between English v and w. If in doubt, then a w sound will do
In Tibetan pronunciation “svāhā” becomes “soha.” This is technically incorrect from a Sanskrit point of view, but it also has many centuries of tradition behind it, and in any event few Westerners pronounce Sanskrit correctly either! Still, outside of the Tibetan tradition it’s probably best to revert to the best approximation possible of the Sanskrit, where both a’s are long (as in father), and the v comes close to being an English “w” sound.
The Bodhisattva-Goddess Tārā (or Tara)
Tara means "star," "planet," or "she who ferries across." She is a bodhisattva embodying compassion in the female form of a young goddess. She is often considered to be such an advanced bodhisattva that she is actually a Buddha.
Tara’s name is said to derive from the verb meaning "to cross" or "to traverse". In Pali the verb tarati means "to get to the other side." This word is cognate with the Latin "trans" (across). The word Tara also literally means "star."
An interesting overlap between these two senses is the use of stars in navigation. The Pole Star, used at least for millennia to guide travelers, was known as Dhruva-Tara (the immovable star). Tara becomes a focal point on the far shore that helps us guide our lives in a safe direction. We can take her enlightened qualities of wisdom and compassion as our guide, moment by moment, as we navigate our lives.
A third meaning of "tara" is "the pupil of the eye," again suggesting a focal point and conveying a sense that Tara watches over those who navigate the treacherous waters of life in search of the further shore of liberation.
Tara’s name in Tibetan is Dölma, which means "She Who Saves." She is seen as guarding against the Eight Great Terrors of lions, elephants, fire, snakes, robbers, imprisonment, shipwreck or drowning, and man-eating demons. In each case these terrors are symbolic of spiritual dangers. For example, the First Dalai Lama described the demons against which Tara offers protection as being our self-consuming spiritual doubts.
A female bodhisattva
The most striking thing about Tara is also the most obvious: she is female. While there are many female representations of enlightenment, most are relatively obscure and male forms predominate. Tara, however, is very well known and is one of the most popular Buddhist deities in the Mahayana world, outside of the Far East, where Kwan Yin, the female form of Avalokiteshvara, predominates.
To westerners, having a female form representing compassion may seem natural, but it should be remembered that in traditional Buddhist iconography the male form tends to represent compassion while the female form more often represents wisdom. Tara bucks that trend.
Traditionally, even in Buddhism, which has seen countless enlightened women, the female form has most often been seen as disadvantageous for the pursuit of the spiritual life compared to the male form, to the extent that female spiritual aspirants often aspire to be reborn in male form to help them in their future spiritual endeavors.
There is an important sense, however, in which Tara is not female and in which the "male" Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are not male. Enlightened beings are said to be beyond the limiting conditions of ordinary human consciousness, and are not defined by the gender of their body. Gender is seen in Mahayana Buddhism as being a psycho-social construct that can be transcended. An important passage in the Vimalakirti Nirdesa, an important Mahayana Sutra, illustrates this.
In the story, Shariputra, the foremost in wisdom of the Buddha’s human disciples, is in conversation with an unnamed "goddess" who is immeasurably his spiritual superior. Shariputra, trapped by his dualistic thinking, asks the goddess, "Goddess, what prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state?" He assumes of course that the female form is a hindrance.
The goddess replies, "Although I have sought my "female state" for these twelve years, I have not yet found it." The goddess does not see herself as female, or Shariputra as male, because she has transcended limiting thinking, has transcended socio-cultural conditioning, and has even gone beyond any biological conditioning.
The goddess then seriously messes with Shariputra by transforming herself into his form and transforming him into a female. She says:
"All women appear in the form of women in just the same way as the elder appears in the form of a woman. While they are not women in reality, they appear in the form of women. With this in mind, the Buddha said, ‘In all things, there is neither male nor female.’"
Although the goddess is not named, she may have been a prototype for the much later emergence of Tara herself, who is said to have spoken the following words in her earlier incarnation as Jnanachandra:
Here there is no man, there is no woman,
No self, no person, and no consciousness.
The labels ‘male’ or ‘female’ have no essence,
But deceive the evil-minded world.
The green goddess
The other striking thing about Tara is her greenness. She is represented as a beautiful, often voluptuous, sixteen-year-old woman, clad is silks and jewels: a highly attractive figure. And yet the color of her skin is green, and this surely clashes with her otherwise attractive appearance.
Tara is associated with the color green in a number of ways. First, as we will see when we consider Tara’s origins, in one myth she is said to have been given her name by Amoghasiddhi Buddha, who is himself green. Tara is Amoghasiddhi’s spiritual consort.
Secondly, both Tara and Amoghasiddhi are connected, in the Five-Buddha Mandala, with the element Air, which is itself associated with that color.
Thirdly, Green Tara is a forest goddess, and in one story is shown as being clad in leaves. Her Pure Land, in distinction to others that are composed of precious gems, is said to be lush and verdant:
Covered with manifold trees and creepers, resounding with the sound of many birds,
And with murmur of waterfalls, thronged with wild beasts of many kinds;
Many species of flowers grow everywhere.
She is therefore a female form of the "Green Man" figure who is found carved in many European churches and cathedrals, and who is found in the Islamic traditions as the figure Al-Khidr.
Tara’s symbols
Tara holds an utpala, or blue lotus, in her right hand, which is held at chest level. This hand is simultaneously in the vitarka, or teaching mudra. Tara may save, but the beneficiaries of her protective powers learn to save themselves through following her teachings!
The utpala is a night-blooming flower, and so Tara protects at the time of greatest fear, during both literal darkness and while we are in the darkness of ignorance.
The core significance of the lotus flower is that it remains unstained even in the most contaminated environments. Early Buddhist texts often refer to the fact that water simply runs off of a lotus. The Dhammapada, an early Buddhist teaching, refers to the unstained nature of the lotus in this way:
58. Yathā saṅkāradhānasmiṃ
ujjhitasmiṃ mahāpathe
Padumaṃ tattha jāyetha
sucigandhaṃ manoramaṃ.
59. Evaṃ saṅkārabhūtesu
andhabhūte puthujjane
Atirocati paññāya
sammāsambuddhasāvako.
Which means:
58. As upon a heap of rubbish,
Thrown out by the highway,
May grow a lotus
Delightful and of pure scent,
59. So, among defiled beings,
Among blind, unawakened beings,
The disciple of the Fully and Perfectly Awakened One
Shines with wisdom.
The lotus has therefore, since the earliest days of Buddhism, and probably even before then, signified the way in which awakened wisdom can exist in the world without being contaminated by it.
via http://www.wildmind.org/mantras/figures/greentara
Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā / Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
Tara, whose name means "star" or "she who ferries across," is a Bodhisattva of compassion who manifests in female form. In Tibetan, Tara is known as "Dölma" (Sgrol-ma), or "She Who Saves." In particular she represents compassion in action, since she’s in the process of stepping from her lotus throne in order to help sentient beings.
The syllable Om has no conceptual meaning, and is sound representing the entire universe, past present and future. You can read more about Om on the page discussing the Om shanti shanti shanti mantra.
Symbolic translation
The central part of Tara’s mantra is a loving play on her name. According to Sangharakshita, a traditional explanation of the mantra is that the variations of her name represent three progressive stages of salvation.
1. Tāre represents salvation from mundane dangers and suffering. Tara is seem as a savioress who can give aid from material threats such as floods, crime, wild animals, and traffic accidents. Tara is therefore said to protect against ordinary worldly dangers.
Tara is a bodhisattva embodying compassion in the female form of a young goddess.
2. Tuttāre represents deliverance into the spiritual path conceived in terms of individual salvation. In traditional terms, this is the path of the Arhant, which leads to individual liberation from suffering. This is seen in Mahayana Buddhism as a kind of enlightenment in which compassion does not figure strongly. Tara therefore offers individual protection from the spiritual dangers of greed, hatred, and delusion: the three factors that cause us individual suffering.
3. Lastly, ture represents the culmination of the spiritual path in terms of deliverance into the altruistic path of universal salvation – the Bodhisattva path. In the Bodhisattva path we aspire for personal enlightenment, but we also connect compassionately with the sufferings of others, and strive to liberate them at the same time as we seek enlightenment ourselves. Tara therefore delivers us from a narrow conception of the spiritual life. She saves us from the notion that spiritual progress is about narrowly liberating ourselves from our own suffering, and instead leads us to see that true spiritual progress involves having compassion for others.
By the time we have been liberated from mundane dangers, liberated from a narrow conception of the spiritual path, and led to a realization of compassion, we have effectively become Tara. In Buddhist practice the “deities” represent our own inner potential. We are all potentially Tara. We can all become Tara.
Svaha, according to Monier Monier-William’s Sanskrit Dictionary, means: "Hail!", "Hail to!" or "May a blessing rest on!" We could see this final blessing as symbolizing the recognition that we are, ultimately, Tara.
Her mantra can therefore be rendered as something like "OM! Hail to Tara (in her three roles as a savioress)!" although this may one of those occasions when the mantra is best left untranslated, because the words have no “meaning” in the normal sense of the word. Instead they are more like a play on her name, like variations in a piece of music by Bach or like improvisations in a piece of jazz music.
Literal translation
There’s a more literal meaning of the mantra as well:
“Tare” is the vocative form of Tara, so it means “O Tara!”
“Tu” is an exclamation that can mean “pray! I beg, do, now, then,” and so “tuttare” could mean something like “I entreat you, O Tara” or “I beg you, O Tara.”
“Ture” is probably the vocative form of “tura,” which means “quick, willing, prompt,” and so it would mean something like “O swift one!”
So the mantra could be rendered as “OM! O Tara! I entreat you, O Tara! O swift one! Hail!
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
Pronunciation notes:
ā is like a in father
e is ay in lay
v is pronounced halfway between English v and w. If in doubt, then a w sound will do
In Tibetan pronunciation “svāhā” becomes “soha.” This is technically incorrect from a Sanskrit point of view, but it also has many centuries of tradition behind it, and in any event few Westerners pronounce Sanskrit correctly either! Still, outside of the Tibetan tradition it’s probably best to revert to the best approximation possible of the Sanskrit, where both a’s are long (as in father), and the v comes close to being an English “w” sound.
The Bodhisattva-Goddess Tārā (or Tara)
Tara means "star," "planet," or "she who ferries across." She is a bodhisattva embodying compassion in the female form of a young goddess. She is often considered to be such an advanced bodhisattva that she is actually a Buddha.
Tara’s name is said to derive from the verb meaning "to cross" or "to traverse". In Pali the verb tarati means "to get to the other side." This word is cognate with the Latin "trans" (across). The word Tara also literally means "star."
An interesting overlap between these two senses is the use of stars in navigation. The Pole Star, used at least for millennia to guide travelers, was known as Dhruva-Tara (the immovable star). Tara becomes a focal point on the far shore that helps us guide our lives in a safe direction. We can take her enlightened qualities of wisdom and compassion as our guide, moment by moment, as we navigate our lives.
A third meaning of "tara" is "the pupil of the eye," again suggesting a focal point and conveying a sense that Tara watches over those who navigate the treacherous waters of life in search of the further shore of liberation.
Tara’s name in Tibetan is Dölma, which means "She Who Saves." She is seen as guarding against the Eight Great Terrors of lions, elephants, fire, snakes, robbers, imprisonment, shipwreck or drowning, and man-eating demons. In each case these terrors are symbolic of spiritual dangers. For example, the First Dalai Lama described the demons against which Tara offers protection as being our self-consuming spiritual doubts.
A female bodhisattva
The most striking thing about Tara is also the most obvious: she is female. While there are many female representations of enlightenment, most are relatively obscure and male forms predominate. Tara, however, is very well known and is one of the most popular Buddhist deities in the Mahayana world, outside of the Far East, where Kwan Yin, the female form of Avalokiteshvara, predominates.
To westerners, having a female form representing compassion may seem natural, but it should be remembered that in traditional Buddhist iconography the male form tends to represent compassion while the female form more often represents wisdom. Tara bucks that trend.
Traditionally, even in Buddhism, which has seen countless enlightened women, the female form has most often been seen as disadvantageous for the pursuit of the spiritual life compared to the male form, to the extent that female spiritual aspirants often aspire to be reborn in male form to help them in their future spiritual endeavors.
There is an important sense, however, in which Tara is not female and in which the "male" Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are not male. Enlightened beings are said to be beyond the limiting conditions of ordinary human consciousness, and are not defined by the gender of their body. Gender is seen in Mahayana Buddhism as being a psycho-social construct that can be transcended. An important passage in the Vimalakirti Nirdesa, an important Mahayana Sutra, illustrates this.
In the story, Shariputra, the foremost in wisdom of the Buddha’s human disciples, is in conversation with an unnamed "goddess" who is immeasurably his spiritual superior. Shariputra, trapped by his dualistic thinking, asks the goddess, "Goddess, what prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state?" He assumes of course that the female form is a hindrance.
The goddess replies, "Although I have sought my "female state" for these twelve years, I have not yet found it." The goddess does not see herself as female, or Shariputra as male, because she has transcended limiting thinking, has transcended socio-cultural conditioning, and has even gone beyond any biological conditioning.
The goddess then seriously messes with Shariputra by transforming herself into his form and transforming him into a female. She says:
"All women appear in the form of women in just the same way as the elder appears in the form of a woman. While they are not women in reality, they appear in the form of women. With this in mind, the Buddha said, ‘In all things, there is neither male nor female.’"
Although the goddess is not named, she may have been a prototype for the much later emergence of Tara herself, who is said to have spoken the following words in her earlier incarnation as Jnanachandra:
Here there is no man, there is no woman,
No self, no person, and no consciousness.
The labels ‘male’ or ‘female’ have no essence,
But deceive the evil-minded world.
The green goddess
The other striking thing about Tara is her greenness. She is represented as a beautiful, often voluptuous, sixteen-year-old woman, clad is silks and jewels: a highly attractive figure. And yet the color of her skin is green, and this surely clashes with her otherwise attractive appearance.
Tara is associated with the color green in a number of ways. First, as we will see when we consider Tara’s origins, in one myth she is said to have been given her name by Amoghasiddhi Buddha, who is himself green. Tara is Amoghasiddhi’s spiritual consort.
Secondly, both Tara and Amoghasiddhi are connected, in the Five-Buddha Mandala, with the element Air, which is itself associated with that color.
Thirdly, Green Tara is a forest goddess, and in one story is shown as being clad in leaves. Her Pure Land, in distinction to others that are composed of precious gems, is said to be lush and verdant:
Covered with manifold trees and creepers, resounding with the sound of many birds,
And with murmur of waterfalls, thronged with wild beasts of many kinds;
Many species of flowers grow everywhere.
She is therefore a female form of the "Green Man" figure who is found carved in many European churches and cathedrals, and who is found in the Islamic traditions as the figure Al-Khidr.
Tara’s symbols
Tara holds an utpala, or blue lotus, in her right hand, which is held at chest level. This hand is simultaneously in the vitarka, or teaching mudra. Tara may save, but the beneficiaries of her protective powers learn to save themselves through following her teachings!
The utpala is a night-blooming flower, and so Tara protects at the time of greatest fear, during both literal darkness and while we are in the darkness of ignorance.
The core significance of the lotus flower is that it remains unstained even in the most contaminated environments. Early Buddhist texts often refer to the fact that water simply runs off of a lotus. The Dhammapada, an early Buddhist teaching, refers to the unstained nature of the lotus in this way:
58. Yathā saṅkāradhānasmiṃ
ujjhitasmiṃ mahāpathe
Padumaṃ tattha jāyetha
sucigandhaṃ manoramaṃ.
59. Evaṃ saṅkārabhūtesu
andhabhūte puthujjane
Atirocati paññāya
sammāsambuddhasāvako.
Which means:
58. As upon a heap of rubbish,
Thrown out by the highway,
May grow a lotus
Delightful and of pure scent,
59. So, among defiled beings,
Among blind, unawakened beings,
The disciple of the Fully and Perfectly Awakened One
Shines with wisdom.
The lotus has therefore, since the earliest days of Buddhism, and probably even before then, signified the way in which awakened wisdom can exist in the world without being contaminated by it.
via http://www.wildmind.org/mantras/figures/greentara
Getting closer to the Balm of Acceptance
Getting Closer to the Balm of Acceptance
by Sharon Salzberg
In Buddhist teaching, suffering isn’t considered redemptive. What is redemptive, and healing, is our transformed relationship to suffering. Each element of our experience provides its own challenges and opportunities for a new relationship. When we are in pain or distress, we can hold that pain in bitterness or in compassion, in isolation or in connection to community. We can respond to the helping hands that might be reaching toward us, or we can refuse to believe that we deserve any support at all.
In contrast to the ways most of us have been conditioned, Buddhism emphasizes the naturalness of suffering in a world of constant change. Buddhists try to address the assumptions we carry that define suffering as a betrayal, as something blameworthy that we should hide or be ashamed of, and we work to loosen those habits of mind.
When my friend Meg faced death after an intense, eleven-year effort to overcome ovarian cancer, she took morphine. “I don’t want to take more than I need. I don’t want to be foggy minded. But I don’t need to be a hero about it either. If I hurt, I’ll take it. I don’t think you get extra points for suffering.”
Meg was a warm, compassionate, caring person, even through the difficulties of her illness. She developed an openheartedness to others through the relationship she fostered to her own pain. One day, I experienced a very moving encounter with her on the phone. I had just undergone exploratory surgery to determine whether an ovarian tumor was benign or cancerous, the same kind of cancer she had. I had learned the results of my test only a few days before, and when I told her that the tumor had proved to be benign, Meg said to me with such joy, “Sharon, I have been praying for you. I am so happy for you.” Her response went beyond ordinary kindheartedness. In her offering of concern, she didn’t take center stage; her own situation was not the reference point. In the intensity and purity of her caring, she was simply delighted that I was healthy.
At a time when she was suffering herself, it must have required a great effort to include another in her concerns. But she gave me the gift of her wholehearted prayers and joy without a hint of comparison or struggle. I am sure that if I had commented on how extraordinary I found her generosity of spirit, she would have been quite puzzled. Meg’s response arose out of how she viewed life — not as something free of suffering if you do all the right things, but as something filled with happiness and pain in the natural course of events. Neither is left out.
Through the Buddha’s teaching, we learn that suffering isn’t aberrant, but inevitable; death is not a personal failing, but the result of being born; and hostility toward our condition only isolates us and brings us further from the balm of giving and receiving kindness. In Buddhism, we use meditation to train our minds so that we can open more fully to our situation. Rather than close down and withdraw, we open to the pain — which is a natural part of life — that helps us inevitably care for ourselves.
The process of learning to let go, however, isn’t a linear one, where we suddenly “let go.” Rather, it happens in fits and starts, where we open but then close down; we release clinging and then somehow forget that it is that very release that actually makes us happy. We need to remember to begin again after getting lost or overwhelmed; we learn to do that and return to what is happening in the moment with less judgment, more kindness toward ourselves. Being discouraged or blaming ourselves for not being perfect is a natural part of a genuine path, part of how transformation happens.
While some people will begin training when faced with a health crisis or a situation of extreme suffering — and I do know people who do that and still find benefit — it is certainly far better to begin in ordinary times, when conditions aren’t so hard. Then, when we really need it, that inner strength has been cultivated, and our ability to exhibit love and compassion for ourselves and others is much closer at hand.
Source: Sh'ma Journal
http://www.shma.com/2011/05/suffering-is-part-of-life-getting-closer-to-the-balm-of-acceptance/
via Buddhaforum.org
by Sharon Salzberg
In Buddhist teaching, suffering isn’t considered redemptive. What is redemptive, and healing, is our transformed relationship to suffering. Each element of our experience provides its own challenges and opportunities for a new relationship. When we are in pain or distress, we can hold that pain in bitterness or in compassion, in isolation or in connection to community. We can respond to the helping hands that might be reaching toward us, or we can refuse to believe that we deserve any support at all.
In contrast to the ways most of us have been conditioned, Buddhism emphasizes the naturalness of suffering in a world of constant change. Buddhists try to address the assumptions we carry that define suffering as a betrayal, as something blameworthy that we should hide or be ashamed of, and we work to loosen those habits of mind.
When my friend Meg faced death after an intense, eleven-year effort to overcome ovarian cancer, she took morphine. “I don’t want to take more than I need. I don’t want to be foggy minded. But I don’t need to be a hero about it either. If I hurt, I’ll take it. I don’t think you get extra points for suffering.”
Meg was a warm, compassionate, caring person, even through the difficulties of her illness. She developed an openheartedness to others through the relationship she fostered to her own pain. One day, I experienced a very moving encounter with her on the phone. I had just undergone exploratory surgery to determine whether an ovarian tumor was benign or cancerous, the same kind of cancer she had. I had learned the results of my test only a few days before, and when I told her that the tumor had proved to be benign, Meg said to me with such joy, “Sharon, I have been praying for you. I am so happy for you.” Her response went beyond ordinary kindheartedness. In her offering of concern, she didn’t take center stage; her own situation was not the reference point. In the intensity and purity of her caring, she was simply delighted that I was healthy.
At a time when she was suffering herself, it must have required a great effort to include another in her concerns. But she gave me the gift of her wholehearted prayers and joy without a hint of comparison or struggle. I am sure that if I had commented on how extraordinary I found her generosity of spirit, she would have been quite puzzled. Meg’s response arose out of how she viewed life — not as something free of suffering if you do all the right things, but as something filled with happiness and pain in the natural course of events. Neither is left out.
Through the Buddha’s teaching, we learn that suffering isn’t aberrant, but inevitable; death is not a personal failing, but the result of being born; and hostility toward our condition only isolates us and brings us further from the balm of giving and receiving kindness. In Buddhism, we use meditation to train our minds so that we can open more fully to our situation. Rather than close down and withdraw, we open to the pain — which is a natural part of life — that helps us inevitably care for ourselves.
The process of learning to let go, however, isn’t a linear one, where we suddenly “let go.” Rather, it happens in fits and starts, where we open but then close down; we release clinging and then somehow forget that it is that very release that actually makes us happy. We need to remember to begin again after getting lost or overwhelmed; we learn to do that and return to what is happening in the moment with less judgment, more kindness toward ourselves. Being discouraged or blaming ourselves for not being perfect is a natural part of a genuine path, part of how transformation happens.
While some people will begin training when faced with a health crisis or a situation of extreme suffering — and I do know people who do that and still find benefit — it is certainly far better to begin in ordinary times, when conditions aren’t so hard. Then, when we really need it, that inner strength has been cultivated, and our ability to exhibit love and compassion for ourselves and others is much closer at hand.
Source: Sh'ma Journal
http://www.shma.com/2011/05/suffering-is-part-of-life-getting-closer-to-the-balm-of-acceptance/
via Buddhaforum.org
May 31, 2011
Sex Slave Ring Broken Up in Thailand
Thai police recently busted a sex slavery ring, rescuing nine boys and arresting a Buddhist monk. Police footage shows the monk in possession of several fake guns. Experts working the case say he and another Thai man bought boys, held them prisoner and then sold them to Westerners for sex.
The leader of the ring was sentenced to 84 years in prison for human trafficking and sexual abuse, a sentence that has since been halved because the judges said he’d cooperated with investigators and the court. The monk, who has been expelled from the clergy, received a 21-year prison sentence for trafficking and sexually abusing under-aged children.
Read More >>>
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/24/fighting-child-sex-slavery-in-thailand/
Via Buddhaforum.org
The leader of the ring was sentenced to 84 years in prison for human trafficking and sexual abuse, a sentence that has since been halved because the judges said he’d cooperated with investigators and the court. The monk, who has been expelled from the clergy, received a 21-year prison sentence for trafficking and sexually abusing under-aged children.
Read More >>>
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/24/fighting-child-sex-slavery-in-thailand/
Via Buddhaforum.org
May 26, 2011
Medicine Buddha Vows
Medicine Buddha has made a vow to help those who call upon him when ill or injured, and to aid those who revere him to achieve a long and healthy life. As Amitabha is the Buddha of the Pure Land of the Western Paradise, the Medicine Buddha is the Buddha of the Pure Land of the Eastern Paradise.
12 Vows of Medicine Buddha
1. I vow that my body shall shine as beams of brilliant light on this infinite and boundless world, showering on all beings, getting rid of their ignorance and worries with my teachings. May all beings be like me, with a perfect status and character, upright mind and soul, and finally attaining enlightenment like the Buddha.
2. I vow that my body be like crystal, pure and flawless, radiating rays of splendid light to every corner, brightening up and enlightening all beings with wisdom. With the blessings of compassion, may all beings strengthen their spiritual power and physical energy, so that they could fulfil their dreams in the right track.
3. I vow that I shall grant by means of boundless wisdom, all beings with the inexhaustible things that they require, and relieving them from all pains and guilt resulting from materialistic desires. Although clothing, food, accommodation and transport are essentials, it should be utilised wisely as well. Besides self-consumption, the remaining should be generously shared with the community so that all could live harmoniously together.
4. I vow to lead those who have gone astray back to the path of righteousness. Let them be corrected and returned to the Buddha way for enlightenment.
5. I vow that I shall enable all sentient beings to observe precepts for spiritual purity and moral conduct. Should there be any relapse or violation, they shall be guided for repentance. Provided they truly regret their wrong-doings, and vow for a change with constant prayers and strong faith in the Buddha, they could receive the rays of forgiveness, recover their lost moral and purity.
6. I vow that all beings who are physically disabled or sick in all aspects be blessed with good health, both physically and mentally. All who pays homage to Buddha faithfully will be blessed.
7. I vow to relieve all pain and poverty of the very sick and poor. The sick be cured, the helpless be helped, the poor be assisted.
8. I vow to help women who are undergoing sufferings and tortures and seeking for transformation into men. By hearing my name, paying homage and praying, their wishes would be granted and ultimately attain Buddhahood.
9. I vow to free all beings from evil thoughts and its control. I shall lead them onto the path of light through inculcating them with righteousness and honour so that they will walk the Buddha way.
10. I vow to save prisoners who have genuinely repented and victims of natural disasters. Those who are sincere will be blessed by my supreme powers and be freed from sufferings.
11. I vow to save those who suffer from starvation and those who committed crime to obtain food. If they hear my name and faithfully cherish it, I shall lead them to the advantages of Dharma and favour them with best food and eventually lead a tranquil and happy life.
12. I vow to save those who suffer from poverty, tormented by mosquitoes and wasps day and night. If they come across my name, cherish it with sincerity and practise dharma to strengthen their merits, they will be able to achieve their wishes.
Extracted from The Sutra of the Master of Healing.
Homage to the Lord Master of Healing
The Lord Master of Healing is also known as the Medicine Master Buddha Who Dispels Calamities and Lengthens Life.
More and more devotees are reciting his dharani, seeking the blessings and compassion of the Medicine Master Buddha to help dispel their karmic obstacles, to free them from sufferings, illnesses and afflictions, and consequently lengthening their lives - hence this is A Mystic Formula for Dispelling Disease and Suffering.
This healing dharani, fervently recited 7 times or 49 times or 109 times depending on the situation - over a glass of plain water is able to relieve or heal a sick person.
On such an occasion, the above practice should be done daily (or a few times a day as the situation requires) until the sick person recovers.
Devotees who wish to uphold this dharani should sincerely attempt to recite it everyday 3 times, 7 times or according to one’s wisdom.
Medicine Master’s True Words
For Anointing The Crown
In Sanskrit
Namo bhagavate bhaisajyaguru-vaidurya
prabha-rajaya tathagataya arhate samyak-
sambuddhaya tadyatha. Om bhaisajye
bhaisajye bhaisajya-samudgate svaha!
This can be translated as:
"I honour the Lord Master of Healing, the Kin of Lapis Lazuli Radiance, Tathagata, Arhat, Perfect Enlightened One, saying: To the healing, to the healing, to the supreme healing hail!"
via http://web.singnet.com.sg/~alankhoo/Medicine.htm
12 Vows of Medicine Buddha
1. I vow that my body shall shine as beams of brilliant light on this infinite and boundless world, showering on all beings, getting rid of their ignorance and worries with my teachings. May all beings be like me, with a perfect status and character, upright mind and soul, and finally attaining enlightenment like the Buddha.
2. I vow that my body be like crystal, pure and flawless, radiating rays of splendid light to every corner, brightening up and enlightening all beings with wisdom. With the blessings of compassion, may all beings strengthen their spiritual power and physical energy, so that they could fulfil their dreams in the right track.
3. I vow that I shall grant by means of boundless wisdom, all beings with the inexhaustible things that they require, and relieving them from all pains and guilt resulting from materialistic desires. Although clothing, food, accommodation and transport are essentials, it should be utilised wisely as well. Besides self-consumption, the remaining should be generously shared with the community so that all could live harmoniously together.
4. I vow to lead those who have gone astray back to the path of righteousness. Let them be corrected and returned to the Buddha way for enlightenment.
5. I vow that I shall enable all sentient beings to observe precepts for spiritual purity and moral conduct. Should there be any relapse or violation, they shall be guided for repentance. Provided they truly regret their wrong-doings, and vow for a change with constant prayers and strong faith in the Buddha, they could receive the rays of forgiveness, recover their lost moral and purity.
6. I vow that all beings who are physically disabled or sick in all aspects be blessed with good health, both physically and mentally. All who pays homage to Buddha faithfully will be blessed.
7. I vow to relieve all pain and poverty of the very sick and poor. The sick be cured, the helpless be helped, the poor be assisted.
8. I vow to help women who are undergoing sufferings and tortures and seeking for transformation into men. By hearing my name, paying homage and praying, their wishes would be granted and ultimately attain Buddhahood.
9. I vow to free all beings from evil thoughts and its control. I shall lead them onto the path of light through inculcating them with righteousness and honour so that they will walk the Buddha way.
10. I vow to save prisoners who have genuinely repented and victims of natural disasters. Those who are sincere will be blessed by my supreme powers and be freed from sufferings.
11. I vow to save those who suffer from starvation and those who committed crime to obtain food. If they hear my name and faithfully cherish it, I shall lead them to the advantages of Dharma and favour them with best food and eventually lead a tranquil and happy life.
12. I vow to save those who suffer from poverty, tormented by mosquitoes and wasps day and night. If they come across my name, cherish it with sincerity and practise dharma to strengthen their merits, they will be able to achieve their wishes.
Extracted from The Sutra of the Master of Healing.
Homage to the Lord Master of Healing
The Lord Master of Healing is also known as the Medicine Master Buddha Who Dispels Calamities and Lengthens Life.
More and more devotees are reciting his dharani, seeking the blessings and compassion of the Medicine Master Buddha to help dispel their karmic obstacles, to free them from sufferings, illnesses and afflictions, and consequently lengthening their lives - hence this is A Mystic Formula for Dispelling Disease and Suffering.
This healing dharani, fervently recited 7 times or 49 times or 109 times depending on the situation - over a glass of plain water is able to relieve or heal a sick person.
On such an occasion, the above practice should be done daily (or a few times a day as the situation requires) until the sick person recovers.
Devotees who wish to uphold this dharani should sincerely attempt to recite it everyday 3 times, 7 times or according to one’s wisdom.
Medicine Master’s True Words
For Anointing The Crown
In Sanskrit
Namo bhagavate bhaisajyaguru-vaidurya
prabha-rajaya tathagataya arhate samyak-
sambuddhaya tadyatha. Om bhaisajye
bhaisajye bhaisajya-samudgate svaha!
This can be translated as:
"I honour the Lord Master of Healing, the Kin of Lapis Lazuli Radiance, Tathagata, Arhat, Perfect Enlightened One, saying: To the healing, to the healing, to the supreme healing hail!"
via http://web.singnet.com.sg/~alankhoo/Medicine.htm
Breathing and Meditation
What we notice from watching our breath during mindfulness meditation is that the breath is impermanent ever-changing: it goes in it comes out it starts it stops it slows it speeds up it gets heavier then lighter lighter then heavier over and over. This insight leads us to the general conclusion that everything is impermanent. Mountains arise from colliding tectonic plates erode and disappear (albeit very slowly) and so it is we observe with everything. Everything arises runs its course and ceases. Everything is impermanent even us: we arise at birth run our course (age) and cease (die).
That is one of the most important insights that arises from meditation.
Why?
Because we can learn from that simple insight how to live our lives so that we reduce our everyday stress and anxiety and increase our peacefulness and well-being.
via Buddhaforum.org
That is one of the most important insights that arises from meditation.
Why?
Because we can learn from that simple insight how to live our lives so that we reduce our everyday stress and anxiety and increase our peacefulness and well-being.
via Buddhaforum.org
25 Years After Buddha, Women Are being Acknwledged
Buddhist women are celebrating a landmark victory: In April, the renowned Institute for Buddhist Dialectical Studies (IBD) in Dharamsala, India, conferred the degree of "Geshe" -- the Tibetan equivalent of Ph.D. -- to Venerable Kelsang Wangmo, a German nun. This is a historical first in so many ways: Traditionally, Geshe degrees are conferred on monks after 12 or more years of rigorous study in Buddhist philosophy. For the first time in history, a nun has now received this degree, and even more surprising, a Western woman. Venerable Kelsang Wangmo is finally rewarded for mastering the strenuous study course in highest Buddhist philosophy. She has already been teaching philosophy at the Institute for more than five years.
So, why is this such a big deal and why did it take so long? After all, in the West the first professor degree was awarded to a woman at a European university almost 300 years ago, in 1732. (Scientist Laura Bassi taught physics at the University of Bologna.) And more than 2,500 years ago the Buddha himself allowed women into his order and ordained his own foster mother, Mahaprajapati. She and 500 like-minded women had to shave their heads and walk 350 miles barefoot to show their unwavering determination, before the Buddha finally granted their request -- a revolutionary decision in India at the time. The Buddha's order was the first in Asia to formally allow women in its ranks.
Read More >>>
www.huffingtonpost.com/michaela-haas/buddhism-women_b_862798.html
via Buddhaforum.org
So, why is this such a big deal and why did it take so long? After all, in the West the first professor degree was awarded to a woman at a European university almost 300 years ago, in 1732. (Scientist Laura Bassi taught physics at the University of Bologna.) And more than 2,500 years ago the Buddha himself allowed women into his order and ordained his own foster mother, Mahaprajapati. She and 500 like-minded women had to shave their heads and walk 350 miles barefoot to show their unwavering determination, before the Buddha finally granted their request -- a revolutionary decision in India at the time. The Buddha's order was the first in Asia to formally allow women in its ranks.
Read More >>>
www.huffingtonpost.com/michaela-haas/buddhism-women_b_862798.html
via Buddhaforum.org
March 31, 2011
March 23, 2011
Renouncing Cyclic Existence
When I was a boy, Ling Rinpochay, who was then my junior tutor, was always very stern; he never smiled, not even a little. This bothered me a lot. By wondering why he was so humorless, I examined more and more what I was doing in my own mind. This helped me develop self-awareness with regard to my motivation. By my early twenties when I had matured, Ling Rinpochay completely changed; he always had a big smile when we were together.
Effective practice of the morality of individual liberation depends upon sound, long-term motivation. For example, one should not become a monk or a nun to avoid having to work at a worldly job for food and clothing. Also, it is not sufficient merely to seek to avoid difficulty in this lifetime. To be motivated by such trifling purposes does not help to achieve freedom from cyclic existence--the ultimate reason to practice the morality of individual liberation.
This is confirmed by Buddha's life story. One day Shakyamuni slipped outside the palace wall to experience life for himself. For the first time he saw a sick person, an old person, and a corpse. Deeply troubled by the suffering of sickness, aging, and death, he came to the conclusion that worldly life is without substance. Later, inspired by several religious practitioners, Buddha became captivated by the possibility of a higher, more meaningful, spiritual life. At that point he escaped from the palace, leaving his ordinary life behind to pursue that vision.
What does this teach us? Like Buddha we need to begin by becoming concerned about the suffering of cyclic existence and by turning away from temporary distractions. Influenced by this new attitude, we must take up a system of morality by renouncing cyclic existence and by taking vows of pure behavior through seeking to avoid the ten nonvirtues. (p.29)
--from How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
Effective practice of the morality of individual liberation depends upon sound, long-term motivation. For example, one should not become a monk or a nun to avoid having to work at a worldly job for food and clothing. Also, it is not sufficient merely to seek to avoid difficulty in this lifetime. To be motivated by such trifling purposes does not help to achieve freedom from cyclic existence--the ultimate reason to practice the morality of individual liberation.
This is confirmed by Buddha's life story. One day Shakyamuni slipped outside the palace wall to experience life for himself. For the first time he saw a sick person, an old person, and a corpse. Deeply troubled by the suffering of sickness, aging, and death, he came to the conclusion that worldly life is without substance. Later, inspired by several religious practitioners, Buddha became captivated by the possibility of a higher, more meaningful, spiritual life. At that point he escaped from the palace, leaving his ordinary life behind to pursue that vision.
What does this teach us? Like Buddha we need to begin by becoming concerned about the suffering of cyclic existence and by turning away from temporary distractions. Influenced by this new attitude, we must take up a system of morality by renouncing cyclic existence and by taking vows of pure behavior through seeking to avoid the ten nonvirtues. (p.29)
--from How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
February 22, 2011
Fear and Fearlessness
Perhaps the first reaction we have to our own suffering is fear. Fear arises in us almost automatically when we experience strong emotions or pain. We don't have to sit there and generate fear--it just arises. When we experience a disturbing emotion such as jealousy we think, "No, I don't want this." We would rather not experience it. However, if we examine fear closely, we see that it is a thought to which we have been habituating our mind for a very long time. We have repeated this thought pattern of fear for many years, and from a Buddhist point of view, many lifetimes.
In just the same way, when we habituate our minds to being fearless, to being brave and open towards our emotions, fearlessness will also arise naturally. In order for this to happen, we must train in applying antidotes to our thought patterns that are caught up in fear. In this way, we transcend fear first through a conceptual process, which later becomes nonconceptual, a natural fearlessness. In order to become fearless in this way, we need determination and the willingness to face our emotions. With that strong determination and courage, fearlessness will arise effortlessly.
--from Trainings in Compassion: Manuals on the Meditation of Avalokiteshvara by trans. by Tyler Dewar under the guidance of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
.
In just the same way, when we habituate our minds to being fearless, to being brave and open towards our emotions, fearlessness will also arise naturally. In order for this to happen, we must train in applying antidotes to our thought patterns that are caught up in fear. In this way, we transcend fear first through a conceptual process, which later becomes nonconceptual, a natural fearlessness. In order to become fearless in this way, we need determination and the willingness to face our emotions. With that strong determination and courage, fearlessness will arise effortlessly.
--from Trainings in Compassion: Manuals on the Meditation of Avalokiteshvara by trans. by Tyler Dewar under the guidance of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
.
Meditative Stabilization
There is both a reason and a purpose for cultivating the meditative stabilization observing exhalation and inhalation of the breath. The reason is mainly to purify impure motivations. What exactly is to be purified? The main of these are the three poisons--desire, hatred, and obscuration. Even though we have these at all times and even though the meditator will still retain them, she or he is seeking to suppress their manifest functioning at that time. The specific purpose for cleansing impure motivations before meditation is to dispel bad motivations connected with this lifetime, such as having hatred toward enemies, attachment to friends, and so forth.
In terms of the practice I am explaining here, even the thought of a religious practitioner of small capacity is included within impure motivations; such a person engages in practice mainly for the sake of a good future lifetime. Similarly, if on this occasion one has the motivation of a religious practitioner of middling capacity--that of only oneself escaping from cyclic existence, this is also impure.
What is a pure motivation? To take as one's aim the welfare of all sentient beings. This is the motivation of a religious practitioner of great capacity. Meditators should imagine or manifest their own impure motivation in the form of smoke, and with the exhalation of breath should expel all bad motivation. When inhaling, they should imagine that all the blessings and good qualities of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, in the form of bright light, are inhaled into them. This practice is called purification by way of the descent of ambrosia. There are many forms of this purification, but the essence of the practice is as just indicated.
--from Calm Abiding and Special Insight: Achieving Spiritual Transformation Through Meditation by Geshe Gedun Lodro
.
In terms of the practice I am explaining here, even the thought of a religious practitioner of small capacity is included within impure motivations; such a person engages in practice mainly for the sake of a good future lifetime. Similarly, if on this occasion one has the motivation of a religious practitioner of middling capacity--that of only oneself escaping from cyclic existence, this is also impure.
What is a pure motivation? To take as one's aim the welfare of all sentient beings. This is the motivation of a religious practitioner of great capacity. Meditators should imagine or manifest their own impure motivation in the form of smoke, and with the exhalation of breath should expel all bad motivation. When inhaling, they should imagine that all the blessings and good qualities of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, in the form of bright light, are inhaled into them. This practice is called purification by way of the descent of ambrosia. There are many forms of this purification, but the essence of the practice is as just indicated.
--from Calm Abiding and Special Insight: Achieving Spiritual Transformation Through Meditation by Geshe Gedun Lodro
.
Deity Yoga
At the beginning of the process of deity meditation and mantra repetition one meditates on emptiness, settling the non-inherent existence of oneself and the deity through a reasoning such as that of dependent-arising--the fact that both oneself and the deity arise in dependence on their respective bases of designation. One's own final nature and the final nature of the deity are the same, an emptiness of inherent existence.
To perform deity yoga one does not just withdraw ordinary appearances and then appear as a deity but causes the mind realising emptiness itself to appear as a deity. Thus, it is essential initially to meditate on emptiness, cleansing all appearances in emptiness. One then uses that wisdom consciousness realising emptiness as the basis of emanation of a divine body. This must be done at least in imitation of a consciousness actually doing this, for meditation on a truly existent divine body, instead of helping, will only increase adherence to inherent existence. Meditated properly, the appearance of a divine figure is the sport of the ultimate mind of enlightenment, first in imitation and later in fact. (p.39)
--from Deity Yoga in Action and Performance Tantra by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
.
To perform deity yoga one does not just withdraw ordinary appearances and then appear as a deity but causes the mind realising emptiness itself to appear as a deity. Thus, it is essential initially to meditate on emptiness, cleansing all appearances in emptiness. One then uses that wisdom consciousness realising emptiness as the basis of emanation of a divine body. This must be done at least in imitation of a consciousness actually doing this, for meditation on a truly existent divine body, instead of helping, will only increase adherence to inherent existence. Meditated properly, the appearance of a divine figure is the sport of the ultimate mind of enlightenment, first in imitation and later in fact. (p.39)
--from Deity Yoga in Action and Performance Tantra by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
.
February 21, 2011
February 17, 2011
The Bodhisattva's Confession of Ethical Downfalls
The Bodhisattva's Confession of Ethical Downfalls
Prostrations to the Thirty-Five Buddhas
To increase the benefit of each prostration, first prostrate three times while reciting:
om namo manjushriye namo sushriye namo uttama shriye soha
Continue to prostrate while reciting the names of the Buddhas and the confession prayer.
I, (say your name) throughout all times, take refuge in the Gurus; I take refuge in the Buddhas; I take refuge in the Dharma; I take refuge in the Sangha.
To the Founder, the Transcendent Destroyer, the One Thus Gone, the Foe Destroyer, the Fully Enlightened One, the Glorious Conqueror from the Shaykas I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Great Destroyer, Destroying with Vajra Essence I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Radiating Light I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the King with Power of over the Nagas I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the the Leader of the Warriors I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Blissful One I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Fire I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Moonlight I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, Whose Pure Vision Brings Accomplishments I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Moon I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Stainless one I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Giver I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Pure One I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Bestower of Purity I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Celestial Waters I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Deity of the Celestial Waters I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Good I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Sandalwood I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the One of Unlimited Splendor I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Light I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One without Sorrow I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Son of the Desireless One I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Flower I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, Who Understands Reality Enjoyig the Radiant Light of Purity I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, Who Understands Reality Enjoyig the Radiant Light of of the Lotus I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Gem I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One who is Mindful I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Whose Name is Extremely Renowned, I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the King Holding the Banner of Victory over the Senses I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Who Subdues Everything Completely I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Victorious One in All Battles I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Gone to Perfect Self-control I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Who Enhances and Illuminates Completely I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Lotus Who Subdues All I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Foe Destroyer, the Fully Enlightened One, the King with Power over Mount Meru, Always Remaining in the Jewel and the Lotus I bow down.
All you thirty-five Buddhas, and all the others, those thus gone, foe destroyers, fully enlightened ones and transcendent destroyers who are existing, sustaing and living throughout the ten directions of sentient beings' worlds -- all you Buddhas, please give me your attention.
In this life, and throughout beginningless lives in all the realms of samsara, I have created, caused others to create, and rejoiced at the creation of negative karmas such as misusing offerings to holy objects, misusing offerings to the Sangha, stealing the posessions of the Sangha of the ten directions; I have caused others to create these negative actions and rejoiced at their creation.
I have created the five heinous actions, caused others to create them and rejoiced at their creation. I have committed the ten non-virtuous actions, involved others inthem, and rejoiced at their involvement.
Being obscured by all this karma, I have created the cause for myself and other sentient beings to be reborn in the hells, as animals, as hungry ghosts, in irreligious places, amongst barbarians, as long-lived gods, with imperfect senses, holding wrong views, and being displeased with the presence of a Buddha.
Now before these Buddhas, transcendent destroyers who have become transcendental wisdom, who have become thae compassionate eye, who have become witnesses, who have become valid and see with their omniscient minds, I am confessing and accepting all these actions as negative. I will not conceal or hide them, and from now on, I will refrain from committing these negative actions.
Buddhas and transcendent destroyers, please give me your attention: in this life and throughout beginningless lives in all the realms of samsara, whatever root of virtue I have created through even the smallest acts of charity such as giving one mouthful of food to a being born as an animal, whatever root of virtue I have created by abiding in pure conduct, whatever root of virtue I have created by fully ripening sentient beings' minds, whatever root of virtue I have created of the highest transcendent wisdom.
Bringing together all these merits of both myself and others, I now dedicate them to the highest of which there is no higher, to that even above the highest, to the highest of the high, to the higher of the high. Thus I dedicate them completely to the highest, fully accomplished enlightenment.
Just as the Buddhas and transcendent destroyers of the past have dedicated, just sa the Buddhas and transcendent destroyers of the future will dedicate, and just as the Buddhas and transcendent destroyers of the present are dedicating, in the same way I make this dedication.
I confess all my negative actions separately and rejoice in all merits. I implore the Buddhas to grant my request that I may realize the ultimate, sublime, highest transcendental wisdom.
To the sublime kings of the human beings living now, to those of the past, and to those who have yet to appear, to all those whose knowledge is as vast as the infinite ocean, with my hands folded in respect, I go for refuge.
From Pearl of Wisdom - Book I compiled by Ven. Thubten Chodron.
Source
.
Prostrations to the Thirty-Five Buddhas
To increase the benefit of each prostration, first prostrate three times while reciting:
om namo manjushriye namo sushriye namo uttama shriye soha
Continue to prostrate while reciting the names of the Buddhas and the confession prayer.
I, (say your name) throughout all times, take refuge in the Gurus; I take refuge in the Buddhas; I take refuge in the Dharma; I take refuge in the Sangha.
To the Founder, the Transcendent Destroyer, the One Thus Gone, the Foe Destroyer, the Fully Enlightened One, the Glorious Conqueror from the Shaykas I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Great Destroyer, Destroying with Vajra Essence I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Radiating Light I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the King with Power of over the Nagas I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the the Leader of the Warriors I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Blissful One I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Fire I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Moonlight I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, Whose Pure Vision Brings Accomplishments I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Moon I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Stainless one I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Giver I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Pure One I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Bestower of Purity I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Celestial Waters I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Deity of the Celestial Waters I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Good I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Sandalwood I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the One of Unlimited Splendor I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Light I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One without Sorrow I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Son of the Desireless One I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Flower I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, Who Understands Reality Enjoyig the Radiant Light of Purity I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, Who Understands Reality Enjoyig the Radiant Light of of the Lotus I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Gem I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One who is Mindful I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Whose Name is Extremely Renowned, I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the King Holding the Banner of Victory over the Senses I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Who Subdues Everything Completely I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Victorious One in All Battles I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Gone to Perfect Self-control I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Who Enhances and Illuminates Completely I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Lotus Who Subdues All I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Foe Destroyer, the Fully Enlightened One, the King with Power over Mount Meru, Always Remaining in the Jewel and the Lotus I bow down.
All you thirty-five Buddhas, and all the others, those thus gone, foe destroyers, fully enlightened ones and transcendent destroyers who are existing, sustaing and living throughout the ten directions of sentient beings' worlds -- all you Buddhas, please give me your attention.
In this life, and throughout beginningless lives in all the realms of samsara, I have created, caused others to create, and rejoiced at the creation of negative karmas such as misusing offerings to holy objects, misusing offerings to the Sangha, stealing the posessions of the Sangha of the ten directions; I have caused others to create these negative actions and rejoiced at their creation.
I have created the five heinous actions, caused others to create them and rejoiced at their creation. I have committed the ten non-virtuous actions, involved others inthem, and rejoiced at their involvement.
Being obscured by all this karma, I have created the cause for myself and other sentient beings to be reborn in the hells, as animals, as hungry ghosts, in irreligious places, amongst barbarians, as long-lived gods, with imperfect senses, holding wrong views, and being displeased with the presence of a Buddha.
Now before these Buddhas, transcendent destroyers who have become transcendental wisdom, who have become thae compassionate eye, who have become witnesses, who have become valid and see with their omniscient minds, I am confessing and accepting all these actions as negative. I will not conceal or hide them, and from now on, I will refrain from committing these negative actions.
Buddhas and transcendent destroyers, please give me your attention: in this life and throughout beginningless lives in all the realms of samsara, whatever root of virtue I have created through even the smallest acts of charity such as giving one mouthful of food to a being born as an animal, whatever root of virtue I have created by abiding in pure conduct, whatever root of virtue I have created by fully ripening sentient beings' minds, whatever root of virtue I have created of the highest transcendent wisdom.
Bringing together all these merits of both myself and others, I now dedicate them to the highest of which there is no higher, to that even above the highest, to the highest of the high, to the higher of the high. Thus I dedicate them completely to the highest, fully accomplished enlightenment.
Just as the Buddhas and transcendent destroyers of the past have dedicated, just sa the Buddhas and transcendent destroyers of the future will dedicate, and just as the Buddhas and transcendent destroyers of the present are dedicating, in the same way I make this dedication.
I confess all my negative actions separately and rejoice in all merits. I implore the Buddhas to grant my request that I may realize the ultimate, sublime, highest transcendental wisdom.
To the sublime kings of the human beings living now, to those of the past, and to those who have yet to appear, to all those whose knowledge is as vast as the infinite ocean, with my hands folded in respect, I go for refuge.
From Pearl of Wisdom - Book I compiled by Ven. Thubten Chodron.
Source
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Medicine Buddha Sadhana
Medicine Buddha Sadhana
by Thubten Gyatso
Take Refuge and Generate Bodhicitta (three times)
To the Buddha, the Dharma and the sublime community, I go for refuge until I am enlightened. From the virtuous merits I collect by practicing giving and other perfections, may I quickly attain buddhahood in order to lead each and every sentient being into that unsurpassable state.
The Four Immeasurables
May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all sentient beings never be separated from the happiness which is without suffering.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from both attachment and hatred, holding some close and others distant.
Cultivation of Special Bodhicitta
Especially for the benefit of all sentient beings, I will quickly, very quickly, attain the precious state of perfect and complete buddhahood. For this reason, I will practice the yoga method of guru Medicine Buddha.
Seven-Limbed Prayer
I prostrate to the Guru Medicine Buddha.
Each and every offering, including those actually performed and those mentally-transformed, I present to you.
I confess all non-virtuous actions accumulated since beginningless time.
I rejoice in the virtues of both ordinary and noble beings.
As our guide, I request you, O Buddha, to turn the wheel of Dharma until samsara ends.
All virtues, both my own and those of others, I dedicate to the ripening of the two Bodhicittas and the attainment of Buddhahood for the sake of sentient beings.
Mandala Offering/Prayer of Request
I beseech you, Bhagawan Medicine Guru, whose sky-colored, holy body of lapis lazuli signifies your omniscient wisdom and compassion as vast as limitless space, please grant me your blessings.
I beseech you, compassionate Medicine Guru, holding in your right hand the king of medicines, symbolizing your vow to help all pitiful sentient beings plagued by the four hundred and twenty-four diseases, please grant me your blessings.
I beseech you, compassionate Medicine Guru, holding in your left hand a bowl of nectar, symbolizing your vow to give the glorious undying nectar--of the Dharma--which eliminates the degenerations of old age, sickness and death, please grant me your blessings.
Visualization
In the space in front of you is the divine form of Guru Medicine Buddha. He is seated on a lotus and moon cushion. His body is in the nature of deep blue light, the color of lapis lazuli. He is very serene and adorned with silk robes and magnificent jewel ornaments.
Guru Medicine Buddha's right hand rests on his right knee, palm outward in the gesture of giving realizations. His left hand rests in his lap, holding a nectar bowl of medicine that cures all ills, hindrances and obstacles.
Above the crown of Guru Medicine Buddha is a wish-granting jewel, the essence of which is Guru. Above that is Buddha Ngon.Kyen. Gyal.Po, whose body is red-colored, his right hand in the mudra of bestowing sublime realizations and his left hand in the mudra of concentration.
Above him is Buddha Cho.Drag Gya.Tso Yang, with a yellow-colored body and hands in the same mudra.
Above him is Buddha Nya.Ngam Mi.Cho.Pa, light red in color and both hands in the mudra of concentration.
Above him is Buddha Ser.Zang Dri.Me, pale yellow in color, his right hand in the mudra of expounding the Dharma and his left hand in the mudra of concentration.
Above him is the Buddha Rin.Chen Da.Wa Dang Pai.Ma Rab.Tu Gyan.Pa Zi.Ji Dra.Yang Gyi Gyal.Po, reddish-yellow in color and hands in the same mudra.
Above him is Buddha Tsan.Leg Yang.Drag, yellow in color and hands in the same mudra.
Requests to the Medicine Buddhas (Repeat each verse seven times.
After the seventh recitation, as you repeat "May your vow...," the Medicine Buddha to whom the request is made absorbs into the one below, until the single divine form of Medicine Buddha remains for the final request.)
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Tsan.Leg Yang.Drag, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Rin.Chen Da.Wa Dang Pai.Ma Rab.Tu Gyan.Pa Kya.Pa Zi.Ji Dra.Yang Gyi Gyal.Po.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Ser.Zang Dri.Me.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Nya.Ngan Mi.Chog.Pa.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Cho.Drag Gya.Tso Yang.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Ngon.Kyen Gyal.Po.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Man.Gyi.La Bendurya O.Gyi Gyal.Po.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
Visualization
Granting your request, from the heart and holy body of the King of Medicine, infinite rays of light pour down completely filling your body from head to toe. They purify all your diseases and afflictions due to spirits and their causes, all your negative karma and mental obscurations. In the nature of light,your body becomes clean and clear as crystal.
The light rays pour down twice more, each time filling your body with blissful clean-clear light which you absorb.
At the heart of Medicine Buddha appears a lotus and moon disc. Standing at the center of the moon disc, is the blue seed-syllable OM surrounded by the syllables of the mantra. As you recite the mantra, visualize rays of light radiating out in all directions from the syllables at his heart. The light rays pervade the sentient beings of the six realms. Through your great love wishing them to have happiness and, through your great compassion wishing them to be free from all sufferings, they are purified of all diseases, afflictions due to spirits and their causes, all their negative karma and mental obscurations.
Recitation of the Mantra
om namo bhagawate bhekandzyai - guru bendurya prabha randzaya - tatagataya - arhate - samyaksam buddhaya - tayata om bhekandzyai bhekandzyai - maha bhekandzyai bhekandzyai - randza samungate soha
Short Mantra
tatagataya - arhate - samyaksam buddhaya - tayata om bhekandzyai bhekandzyai - maha bhekandzyai bhekandzyai - randza samungate soha
Feel Great Joy and Think
All sentient beings are transformed into the aspect of the Medicine Buddha Guru. How wonderful that I am now able to lead all sentient beings into the Medicine Buddha's Enlightenment.
Simplified Visualization
Visualize the Medicine Buddha Guru above the crown of your head and make the following request seven times, followed by the mantra recitation and visualization.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Man.Gyi.La Bendurya O.Gyi.Gyal.Po.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
Mantra Recitation and Visualization for Simplified Visualization
Purifying rays of light pour down from the Guru Medicine Buddha's heart and holy body eliminating your sicknesses and afflictions due to spirits and their causes, all your negative karma and mental obscurations.
Your body is completely filled with light and becomes clean-clear like crystal. Then the rays radiate out in all directions, purifying the sicknesses and afflictions of all mother sentient beings.
The Guru Medicine Buddha melts into light and absorbs into your heart.
Dedication
Due to these merits, may I complete the ocean-like actions of the sons of the Victorious Ones. May I become the holy savior, refuge and helper for the sentient beings who have repeatedly been kind to me in past lives.
By the virtues received from attempting this practice, may all living beings who see, hear, touch or remember me--even those who say my name--at that moment be released from their miseries and experience happiness forever.
As all sentient beings, infinite as space, are encompassed by the Guru Medicine Buddha's compassion, may I also become the guide of sentient beings existing throughout all ten directions of the universe.
Because of these virtues, may I quickly become Guru Medicine Buddha and lead each and every sentient being into his enlightened realm.
Source
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Vajrasattva Sadhana
Vajrasattva Purification
From Ven. Thubten Chodron's Pearl of Wisdom, Book II
(used with permission)
Visualization
Visualize about four inches above your head an open white lotus upon which is a moon disc. Vajrasattva is seated upon this. He is white, translucent and adorned with beautiful ornaments and clothes of celestial silk. His two hands are crossed at his heart; the right holds a vajra, symbolic of great bliss; his left holds a bell, symbolic of the wisdom of emptiness. The vajra and bell together signify his attainment of the enlightened state, the inseparable unity of the wisdom and form bodies. At his heart is a moon disc with the seed-syllable HUM at its center and the letters of Vajrasattva's hundred-syllable mantra standing clockwise around its edge.
Refuge and Generating Bodhicitta (three times)
I take refuge in the Three Jewels.
I will liberate all sentient beings and lead them to enlightenment.
Thus, I will perfectly generate the mind dedicated to attaining
enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.
The Power of Regret
Recollect, with deep regret, the specific negativities you have created. Then meditate deeply on the meaning of the following:
"The negative karma I have accumulated from beginningless time is as extensive as the ocean. Although I know that each negative action leads to countless eons of suffering, it seems that I am constantly striving to create nothing but negative actions. Even though I try to avoid non-virtue and practice positive acts, day and night without respite, negativities and moral downfalls come to me like rainfall. I lack the ability to purify these faults so that no trace of them remains. With these negative imprints still in my mind, I could suddenly die and find myself falling to an unfortunate rebirth. What can I do? Please Vajrasattva, with your great compassion, guide me from such misery!"
The Power of Remedial Action
From the HUM at Vajrasattva's heart, light radiates in all directions, requesting the Buddhas to bestow their blessings. They accept the request and send white rays of light and nectar, the essence of which is the knowledge of their body, speech and mind. The light and nectar absorb into the HUM and the letters of the mantra at Vajrasattva's heart. They then fill his whole body completely, enhancing the magnificence of his appearance and increasing the brilliance of the mantra.
While reciting the mantra, visualize that white rays of light and nectar stream continuously from the HUM and mantra at Vajrasattva's heart. They flow down through the crown of your head and fill every cell of your body and mind with infinite bliss. Recite the mantra at least 21 times or more, if possible.
om vajrasattva samaya manu palaya - vajrasattva deno patita - dido may bhawa - suto kayo may bhawa - supo kayo may bhawa - anu rakto may bhawa - sarwa siddhi mepar yatsa - sarwa karma su tsa may - tsitam shriyam kuru hum - ha ha ha ha ho - bhagawan - sarwa tatagata - vajra ma may mu tsa - vajra bhawa maha samaya sattva - ah hum pey
If you have not yet memorized the long mantra, or if you are pressed for time, you may recite the short mantra at least 28 times.
om vajrasattva hum
While reciting either of the mantras, continue to visualize the flow of light and nectar and perform the following four visualizations alternately.
Purification of Body
Your disturbing attitudes and negativities in general and particularly those of the body, take the form of black ink. Sickness takes the form of pus and blood and afflictions caused by spirits appear in the form of scorpions, snakes, frogs and crabs. Flushed out by the light and nectar, they all leave your body through the lower openings, like filthy liquid flowing down a drain pipe. Feel completely empty of these problems and negativities; they no longer exist anywhere.
Purification of Speech
Your disturbing attitudes and imprints of negativities of speech take the form of liquid tar. The light and nectar fill your body as water fills a dirty glass: the negativities, like the dirt, rise to the top and flow out through the upper openings of your body: your eyes, ears, mouth, nose, etc. Feel completely empty of these problems; they no longer exist.
Purification of the Mind
Your disturbing attitudes and the imprints of mental negativities appear as darkness at your heart. When struck by the forceful stream of light and nectar, the darkness completely vanishes. It is like turning a light on in a room: the darkness does not go anywhere, it simply ceases to exist. Feel that you are completely empty of all these problems; they are non-existent.
Simultaneous Purification
Do the three above visualizations simultaneously. This sweeps away the subtle obscurations that prevent you from seeing correctly all that exists. Feel completely free of these obscurations.
The Power of the Promise
After reciting the mantra and doing the visualizations, make the following promise to Vajrasattva, specifying a period of time for which you intend to keep it:
"I shall not create these negative actions from now until ______."
Vajrasattva is extremely pleased and says, "My spiritual child of the essence, all your negativities, obscurations and degenerated vows have been completely purified."
With delight, Vajrasattva melts into light and dissolves into you. Your body, speech and mind become inseparably one with Vajrasattva's holy body, speech and mind. Concentrate on this.
Dedication
Due to this merit may I soon
Attain the enlightened state of Vajrasattva,
That I may be able to liberate
All sentient beings from their suffering.
May the precious bodhi mind
Not yet born arise and grow.
May that born have no decline,
But increase forever more.
Source
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February 16, 2011
The Ten Perfections
The ten paramis or perfections provide a highly useful framework for guiding Dharma practice in daily life. Any activity or relationship approached wisely with the primary purpose of developing the perfections in a balanced way becomes part of the practice.
The perfections also provide one of the few reliable ways of measuring the accomplishments of your life. “Accomplishments” in the realm of work and relationships have a way of turning into dust, but perfections of the character, once developed, are dependable and lasting.
This four-week retreat presents the perfections under the four factors that make up the eighth perfection, determination. These four factors—discernment, truth, relinquishment, and calm—highlight two facts. The first is that discernment is needed to convert the perfections from generic virtues into a path to awakening. Second, the path to awakening is a truth of the will: You have to want freedom, and stay true to that desire, for freedom to occur.
Each week’s video presentation will contain an exercise to develop the perfections in daily activities, and will be accompanied by readings to help broaden your understanding of what the perfections entail.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu—known as Ajaan Geoff to his students—has translated several meditation guides from Thai, and is also the author of several books, including: The Mind Like Fire Unbound, The Wings to Awakening, The Paradox of Becoming, Skill in Questions, Noble Strategy, Purity of Heart, and Meditations. He is co-author of the college textbook, Buddhist Religions. His writings and translations are available on the Internet at www.accesstoinsight.org. His Dhamma talks and other writings are also available at www.dhammatalks.org. His five-volume anthology of suttas, Handful of Leaves, is available from the Sati Center of Buddhist Studies.
Mon, 01/03/2011, 10 Perfections Week 1: Discernment 14:01
Mon, 01/10/2011, 10 Perfections Week 2: Truth 17:44
Mon, 01/17/2011, 10 Perfections Week 3: Generosity 14:37
Mon, 01/24/2011, 10 Perfections Week 4: Calm 14:16
Source-Tricycle
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His Holiness to come to Long Beach Convention Center
GSTDL to Host His Holiness the Dalai Lama on May 1, 2011
It gives us great joy to announce that Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling will be hosting His Holiness the Dalai Lama on May 1, 2011. Although His Holiness will be our guest for only one day, it will be an extraordinary day.
We are honored that His Holiness has decided to confer a Solitary Yamantaka Initiation on the morning of May 1, 2011. In the afternoon His Holiness will be delivering a public talk on ‘Secular Ethics and Meditation.’ These events will take place in the Terrace Theater at the Long Beach Convention Center.
His Holiness is requiring several commitments from those who attend the initiation. Please see the Highest Yoga Tantra page for more information on the initiation. Because it is so rare that His Holiness would confer an initiation from the Highest Yoga Tantra class of initiations in the United States, we feel something very special and significant will be taking place. The tickets for the Initiation will be free of cost for all; however, only serious students who are willing to abide by the commitments laid out by His Holiness may attend the initiation. Please read the Highest Yoga Tantra page for more details, including information on how to register for the Initiation. Monastics may register for the events on May 1, 2011 by completing the online registration form at the bottom of the Highest Yoga Tantra page.
We invite you to become a sponsor of His Holiness’ 2011 visit. See the Invitation to Become a Sponsor page for more information.
In addition to the event on May 1, 2011, Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling will be sponsoring several events in the days leading up to May 1, 2011. See the Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling Weekend page.
Tickets for His Holiness’ public talk and for the GSTDL Weekend events will be available for purchase by the general public starting 10 am on February 22, 2011 via Ticketmaster. Type ‘GSTDL’ into the search box on the www.ticketmaster.com website to bring up all four events for which tickets will be sold via Ticketmaster. Tickets may also be purchased through the box office of the Long Beach Convention Center starting at 10 am on February 22, 2011.
We have posted a page with travel and lodging information and also a page with answers to frequently asked questions.
More Information
It gives us great joy to announce that Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling will be hosting His Holiness the Dalai Lama on May 1, 2011. Although His Holiness will be our guest for only one day, it will be an extraordinary day.
We are honored that His Holiness has decided to confer a Solitary Yamantaka Initiation on the morning of May 1, 2011. In the afternoon His Holiness will be delivering a public talk on ‘Secular Ethics and Meditation.’ These events will take place in the Terrace Theater at the Long Beach Convention Center.
His Holiness is requiring several commitments from those who attend the initiation. Please see the Highest Yoga Tantra page for more information on the initiation. Because it is so rare that His Holiness would confer an initiation from the Highest Yoga Tantra class of initiations in the United States, we feel something very special and significant will be taking place. The tickets for the Initiation will be free of cost for all; however, only serious students who are willing to abide by the commitments laid out by His Holiness may attend the initiation. Please read the Highest Yoga Tantra page for more details, including information on how to register for the Initiation. Monastics may register for the events on May 1, 2011 by completing the online registration form at the bottom of the Highest Yoga Tantra page.
We invite you to become a sponsor of His Holiness’ 2011 visit. See the Invitation to Become a Sponsor page for more information.
In addition to the event on May 1, 2011, Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling will be sponsoring several events in the days leading up to May 1, 2011. See the Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling Weekend page.
Tickets for His Holiness’ public talk and for the GSTDL Weekend events will be available for purchase by the general public starting 10 am on February 22, 2011 via Ticketmaster. Type ‘GSTDL’ into the search box on the www.ticketmaster.com website to bring up all four events for which tickets will be sold via Ticketmaster. Tickets may also be purchased through the box office of the Long Beach Convention Center starting at 10 am on February 22, 2011.
We have posted a page with travel and lodging information and also a page with answers to frequently asked questions.
More Information
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What is the Middle Way?
>> June 18, 2011
What Is The Middle Way?
And what, monks, is the Middle Way realized by the Thus-Come-One, which gives vision and understanding, which leads to calm, penetration, enlightenment, to Nirvana?
It is just this Noble Eightfold Path, namely: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. – The Buddha, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
Since starting this site I’ve always felt too close to write about The Middle Way. I asked a friend, Gary over at Buddha Space, if he’d share what The Middle Way meant to him. This is his fantastic reply. 108 bows to you Gary.
The Middle Way lies at the very heart of Buddhism, as indicated in the words above, taken from the Buddha’s first sermon, given by the Thus-Come-One over two-and-a-half thousand years ago in North India. Since then, Buddhism has transformed itself many times as it has spread all over the Orient from Sri Lanka to Japan, and has now taken root in the Occident, from England to Australia. Yet, despite the global nature of the Buddhadharma these days, and its diverse forms such as the orthodox Theravada, the devotional Pure Land, the esoteric Vajrayana, and the prosaic Zen, the Middle Way remains a central theme that all Buddhists take heed of, one way or another.
According to the Buddha, the Middle Way is a life lived between the extremes of self-denial and self-indulgence. Neither hedonist nor ascetic are to be imitated, for the Noble Eightfold Path weaves its way through life avoiding both these unenlightened lifestyles. To see the world in the light of the Buddhadharma is to have Right View, not only recognizing the suffering that is caused by desire, but also the Path that leads to the ending of all such suffering, based in the Right Intention to let go of lust, ill-will, and cruelty. In other words, to lead a harmless life. Right Speech, Action, and Livelihood grow out of such an intention, directing one’s lifestyle in a more selfless, rather than selfish, direction. Right Effort is the avoidance of unwholesome states and the cultivation of wholesome ones. Right Mindfulness and Concentration take this well-directed mind and hone it to the point where it is on the precipice of the great void that is known as Nirvana. The perfection of the Path (that is, the Middle Way), is the ripening of the spiritual life; it becomes a fruit ready to drop into the infinity of enlightenment…forever.
Living the Middle Way can take many different forms – not surprising when the many strands of the Buddhadharma are taken into account, along with the many types of people there are – but all are ultimately intent on its original and continuous objective: Nirvana. To cultivate a moral lifestyle hand in hand with a mindful meditative practice is to walk the Middle Way, which gives vision and understanding, as the Buddha put it. This vision is to see things as they are, rather than as we think or want them to be, and this understanding is the knowledge that in the things of the world there is no salvation or enlightenment; awakening to the silent wisdom within is to experience the calm mind that penetrates to the core of our being: the Buddha.
The Middle Way is not only the recommended manner of living given us by the Buddha; it is also the realization that beyond these limited erroneous egos and puffed-up personalities we are the Buddha. To truly walk the Middle Way is to traverse this world in the knowledge that we are already enlightened – we just have to enlighten ourselves to the fact! Openly reflecting on the Way is to share with all sentient beings this wondrous hidden truth, helping us to let go a little of our greed, hatred, and delusion, the three poisons that tie us to a life of suffering. For, as the Buddha so wisely taught all those centuries ago, it is in the walking of this Middle Way that one discovers Nirvana, releasing the pain and anguish of the ego into the serenity of our Buddha-nature.
The Middle Way
Absolute Delusion/ Perfect Buddhahood
The following is an excerpt from Buddha Forum. Venerable Dharmakara posted this.
In spite of the common view of Buddhism as non-dogmatic and tolerant, the historical record preserves many examples of Buddhist thinkers and movements that were banned as heretical or subversive. The San-chieh (Three Levels) was a popular and influential Chinese Buddhist movement during the Sui and T'ang periods. "Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood" uses manuscripts discovered at Tun-huang to examine the doctrine and institutional practices of this movement in the larger context of Mahayana doctrine and practice. By viewing San-chieh in the context of Mahayana Buddhism, Hubbard reveals it to be far from heretical and thereby raises important questions about orthodoxy and canon in Buddhism. He shows that many of the hallmark ideas and practices of Chinese Buddhism find an early and unique expression in the San-chieh texts.
Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood
http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/publications/nlarc/Absolute_delusion.htm
The Refuge of the Four Buddhas of the Universal Dharma
I. The Buddha as the Matrix of Enlightenment
[Truth and untruth] are neither different nor the same. [Nonetheless, truth and untruth] are one as well as different, while being neither one nor different. Although separated from attachments, the truth of the universe produces the untruth of the universe; therefore, untruth is dependent upon truth. But truth is not independent, because it is forever dependent on untruth; neither does untruth arise independently, because it is necessarily dependent upon truth. Again, the matrix of enlightenment and all of samsara, the essence and the forms, are also like this, neither the same nor different. Like gold and the ornaments made from gold, the essence and forms are forever the same. Again, the matrix of enlightenment and the phenomenal forms of the universe, the essence and forms, are forever different, as dust and moisture are always distinct; thus they are neither different nor not different. The Scripture of the Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala says: "If there is no doubt about the matrix of enlightenment when it is covered by the innumerable stores of defilements, then there will be no doubt concerning the body of truth that is free of those innumerable stores of defilements."
Further, the Scripture of the Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala teaches that "the matrix of enlightenment is the basis of the repeated cycles of birth and death; because of this matrix of enlightenment the original limits are taught to be unknowable. Because the matrix of enlightenment is the basis, we speak of the cycle of birth and death, and this is well spoken. There is birth and death because of worldly convention, but neither birth nor death is found in the matrix of enlightenment. The matrix of enlightenment is the matrix of the universe, the matrix of the truth-body, the supreme matrix of the transcendent, the matrix whose self-nature is pure." It is wholly quiescent, truly ultimate, and forever separated from all false thoughts and delusion. Yet the untruth of the universe continues to be dependent upon the truth of the universe. The phenomenal forms of the universe continue to be dependent upon the matrix of enlightenment, just as water is the basis of the many waves. Because there is the matrix of enlightenment there are the phenomenal forms of the universe, as there are many waves because of the water.
The matrix of enlightenment has the form of samsara, the repeated cycle of birth and death. "Birth" is the arising of new phenomenal form; "death" is the extinction of old phenomenal form. As with the water and the waves, [the matrix of enlightenment and the repeated cycles of birth and death] arise together and end together. Nonetheless, the water neither arises nor comes to an end. Dependent upon the water, the form of the wave arises and falls. When the new wave arises, the old wave ceases. The phenomenal forms of the universe, therefore, are none other than the matrix of enlightenment, and there is no other essence outside of this essence and these forms. It is like the waves that are nothing other than the water, yet outside of those waves there is no other water.
However, the myriad phenomenal forms of the universe arise because of good and evil actions, not because of the matrix of enlightenment, as the true cause of the arising of the many waves is the wind, not the water. Again, the virtues of the matrix of enlightenment function throughout the universe together with the phenomenal forms as their base, support, and foundation. It is like the virtue of the water whose essence and function permeate thewaves as the basis of all of the waves. Nonetheless, the matrix of enlightenment is different from the myriad phenomenal forms that arise dependent upon it --- the matrix of enlightenment alone is the essence, the phenomenal forms are not the essence, as the essence of water is different from the many waves. Only the water is water, the waves are not the water. Similarly, the truth of the essential nature of the matrix of enlightenment both functions and does not function in relation to the myriad phenomenal forms. It is like the purity of the essence of the water, which both functions and does not function with respect to the waves.
Again, this essence is called the storehouse consciousness. Therefore the last book of the Ghanavyuha Sutra says, "the Buddha has taught the matrix of enlightenment as the storehouse consciousness. Delusory thinking cannot know that this matrix is the storehouse consciousness." There are two basic explanations with regard to this, that of the principle and the mind. The matrix of enlightenment is the principle, and worldly consciousness is the mind. The matrix is true, and consciousness provisional. It is also called the four unconditioned noble truths: although suffering and its cause are destroyed, nothing is actually destroyed. Although the truths of extinction and the path are obtained, nothing is actually obtained. Therefore, because nothing is actually destroyed or obtained, there is neither increase nor decrease. It is also called the one truth because it is ultimate and true, with neither destruction nor attainment. It is also called the one foundation because it is the unsurpassed foundation of all practice and understanding inthe universe. It is also called suchness in itself, because it is equal and non-dual. It is also called the totality of the universe because there is neither increase nor decrease. It is also called the store-consciousness because it appropriates and stores all the various phenomena.
The matrix of enlightenment and the conditions and forms have no beginning or end, and thus truth and untruth are dependent upon eachother, neither separate nor distinct. Therefore the Lankavatara Sutra states in a simile that "the storehouse consciousness is like the expansive ocean and waves. Because of violent winds the great waves arise, which roll ceaselessly over the depths. The ocean of the store-consciousness is eternally abiding, and that which is aroused by the wind is the world of objects. It is the waves of consciousness that arise, jumping and dancing about." Sometimes the true is changed into the untrue, like a multitalented actor. Sometimes the untrue is transformed into the true, like a golden ornament [that can return to its original state of pure gold]. The true cause [that is, matrix of enlightenment] and the conditioned cause [that is, conditioned phenomena] are both the same and different like milk, cream, and clarifed butter.
Truth and untruth both take shape within the same matrix, like the ocean and the waves. The One Vehicle [of the Buddhas] and the Three Vehicles [of the bodhisattva, the sravaka, and the pratyekabuddha] are both the same and different, like the Anavatapta Lake and the eight rivers that flow from it. All of these causes and conditions are thoroughly explained in various similes within the sutras. Therein it is taught that the matrix of enlightenment gives rise to the cause and fully ripens the fruit, changing the small into the great and transforming the common into the noble. All this is due to the efficacious power of the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment.
II. The Buddha-Nature Buddha
The second item is the Buddha that exists within all living beings as the nature of a Buddha. Some texts talk of this Buddha-nature as a principle, while others speak of it as something acquired through practice. Some speak of this nature as the cause of enlightenment and others as a result. Now, in clarifying this we only rely on the thirty-eighth book of the Nirvana Sutra, which illuminates the Buddha-nature as the "true cause". Therein it states that all of the living beings of the universe, ordinary persons as well as sages, have this nature, as do all of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Thus, from the perspective of the result, the name is established and called Buddha-nature. However, this Buddha-nature is neither cause nor result. Existing as the cause it is termed cause, existing as the result it is termed result.
Related to the former concept of the matrix of enlightenment, just as "observe" and "watch" are different words [but both mean "to see"], with regard to conditions there is a slight difference in meaning [between the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment and the Buddha as the nature of the Buddha in all living beings]. Buddha-nature is so called because it includes the permanence of the fruits of Buddhahood throughout the universe as well as the permanence of the causes of Buddhahood throughout the universe. Wholly embracing everything from the fruits of Buddhahood down to its causes, it is termed the Buddha as Buddha-nature.
Book thirty-six of the Nirvana Sutra says that the Buddha-nature is not one thing, nor ten things, nor one hundred, one thousand, nor even ten thousand things, nor up to the as-yet-unattained highest perfect enlightenment; the totality of the good, evil, and neutral are all called Buddha-nature.
Buddha-nature is the perfection of the four qualities: the truly permanent, truly blissful, truly self, and truly pure. Eternal because it never changes, pure because it is without defilement, true because it is self-abiding. Because Buddha-nature is unsullied by defilements, while revolving and changing in samsara according to conditions it remains unsullied though in the midst of defilements. Within the person of an ordinary being it is mixed with defilements, like bloody milk --- the sravakas [disciples] are like milk, the pratyekabuddhas [solitary buddhas] like cream, the bodhisattvas like yogurt, and the various buddhas and tathagatas like clarifed butter. Although the level of practice of the commoner and the noble differ, with regard to the quality of the nature of the true cause of Buddhahood they do not differ but are the same. Although the Buddha-nature abides due to its essential nature, this nature is yet without essence. Emptiness is none other than existence, and existence none other than emptiness; neither momentary nor eternal; one nor different; removed from the bifurcations of subject and object, it transcends the four logical alternatives and the eight negations [of Nagarjuna].
In the twenty-eighth book of the Nirvana Sutra the bodhisattva Sinhanada asked about the meaning of the Buddha as Buddha-nature. The answer is that the seeds of all of the buddhas, the highest perfect enlightenment, and the middle path are called Buddha-nature. The sutra also says that "the Buddha-nature is called the emptiness as the ultimate meaning and emptiness as the ultimate meaning is wisdom. One who merely talks about emptiness sees neither the empty nor the nonempty, but the wise one sees both the empty and the nonempty. Empty are all things in samsara, but the nonempty is great liberation. When one sees everything as empty but does not see that which is not empty, it is not called the middle path. Self and no-self are also like this. For these reasons the middle path is called Buddha-nature. Because the Buddha-nature is without change, it is eternal."
The Nirvana Sutra further says: "The sravakas and pratyekabuddhas only see emptiness, but they do not see that which is not empty --- this is not called the middle path." Further, Buddha-nature is called the truth of ultimate meaning, because it dwells eternally without change. Because it is separated from all phenomenal forms, it is as well called the emptiness of ultimate meaning. Because it is separated from all delusion and darkness it is also called wisdom and illumination. Ungraspable and unrestricted, yet one can realize it. One should not rely on a person with wordy explanations but no insight.
Buddha-nature is also called the diamond-like contemplation, because it cannot be destroyed. Buddha-nature is also called nirvana, because it neither arises nor ceases. It is also called Buddha-nature because it is the realization of enlightenment. It is also called the dharma-nature, because it is that which upholds the norm. It is also called the principle of the sangha because it is without error. The sutra says that if a person only has faith in the three jewels of Buddha, doctrine, and community without having faith in the one nature of these three jewels, it is called incomplete faith. Because it is not simply nonexistent like the horns of a rabbit, it is called truly empty; yet because it is not simple nothingness like vacuous space, it is also profoundly existent.
Again, the Hua-yen Sutra calls it formless because it is the unobstructed wisdom in sentient beings. It is also called the "mind's gateway to suchness" because it is intrinsically unchanging. It is also called the "unborn and the unceasing" because the nature of the true conditions and true manifestations of the physical and mental (that is, Buddha-nature) dwells eternally. It is also called the "Buddha-nature that abides of its own nature" because the nature of original enlightenment is uncaused. It is also called the self-nature of nirvana because it is intrinsically quiescent. It is also called the self-nature of wisdom because the self-nature is originally pure and removed from ignorance. It is also called the limit of reality, because the essence of the [Buddha-]nature is true and not false. It is also called suchness in itself, because the nature of the principle is without change. It is not to be found in the five psycho-physical components, the eighteen bases of existence, or in the twelve entrances of cognition, yet neither is it to be found separated from the five psycho-physical components, the eighteen bases of existence, or the twelve entrances of cognition. It is not to be found within living beings nor separate from living beings. It is neither permanent nor impermanent, because it contains both the permanent and the impermanent. It is also called the king of wonderful medicines, because it is able to remove the disease of living beings' passions.
It is also called the treasure house that benefits living beings, as the Nirvana Sutra teaches with a simile about a richman who, in a time of famine, when wealth is hard to come by, opens his treasure house and shares it with all --- so, too, within this world of passions in the time of the semblance doctrine, when living beings are totally perverse and the pure doctrine is exhausted, when the extreme evil of the five heinous crimes increases, leading to the lowest hell of no respite, when perverted views arise and everybody is quarreling with one another and living beings who hold the twelve heterodox views are everywhere, when the dharma is endangered, this, the treasure house of the Buddha doctrine is opened and shared by all --- this is what is meant by the Buddha-nature as the "true cause". All of the living beings of the universe, those of base and noble spirit alike, all possess this nature [of a Buddha], excluding only the grasses, trees, walls, broken tiles, and so on. The sutra teaches the difference between those things without Buddha-nature and those with Buddha-nature and that whichis without Buddha-nature is the earth, trees, tiles, and rocks; that which is distinct from these nonsentient things are all said to have Buddha-nature.
It is only because of ignorance that the gold within the dross is not discovered. If one wishes to have insight, then through emptiness of self and emptiness of phenomena one must dispel belief in the ego-self and the self of things; when fixed in equanimous quiescence, clearly illuminating the identity of principle and phenomena, thoroughly mastering essence and form, and when the mind that follows the object is suppressed, then one will eliminate the self and identify with others. Hearing this without hearing, seeing this without seeing, this is well-seen.
III. The Future Buddha
The third is the Future Buddha. The essence of the above-described Tathagatagarbha Buddha and Buddha-nature Buddha is the true cause of wisdom and the foundation of the truth body. Therefore the essence gives rise to the conditioned, and the practices are pursued according to the conditions --- all are the practices of the matrix of enlightenment, the practices of the Buddha-nature. The tree includes the bud and truth includes untruth, thus all practices are those of the universal bodhisattva of the One Vehicle. With the full completion of the practices the fruits of Buddhahood are realized. Because the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment and the Buddha as Buddha-nature exist within the bondage of ignorance and the realm of causality, there is likewise the future realization of Buddhahood. Therefore, this aspect is termed the "Future Buddha".
We rely on the Lotus Sutra, which teaches that the bodhisattva Never-Despise [Sadaparibhuta] worshipped all among the four classes of beings, that is, monks, nuns, and male and female lay devotees, as the same because they possess the true essence of the matrix of enlightenment and Buddha-nature. Therefore he told them, "You all practice the path of the bodhisattva and in the future will become buddhas", hence this aspect of the refuge of the universal Buddha is termed the "Future Buddha".
IV. The Perceived Buddha
The fourth is the Perceived Buddha. Because all living beings in theuniverse are none other than the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment, the Buddha as the Buddha-nature, and the Future Buddha, the forms of living beings are not different from the true Buddha. This is called the "Perceived Buddha".
According to the "Chapter on Clarifying the Dharma" in the eighth book of the Hua-yen Sutra, the superior and inferior levels of living beings are all to be thought of as the Buddha. Although we may speak of the many levels of living beings and their differences, from the point of view of their essence they are all the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment, the Buddha as the Buddha-nature, and the future Buddha; they should, therefore, all be respected with the thought that indeed they are buddhas. According to the fourth book of the Dasacakra Sutra, we are taught to respect equally the three kinds of monks, that is, those with no precepts, those who break the precepts, and those who keep the precepts, with the thought that they are the true buddhas.
Although we may talk of the difference between holding the precepts and breaking the precepts, because the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment is the same as the Buddha-nature and the Future Buddha, they are one and not two. Therefore, you should respect all, perceiving them as true buddhas, and this is termed "Perceived Buddha".
The essence of the above four Buddhas is all the same, and according to the teachings of the individual sutras all are the perception of the Buddha. The Lanka and the Scripture of Queen Srimala call it the Buddha as the matrix of enlightenment, the Nirvana Sutra calls it the Buddha as Buddha-nature, the Lotus Sutra calls it the Future Buddha, and the Hua-yen Sutra and the Dasacakra Sutra call it the Perceived Buddha. Therefore these four buddhas comprise a single Buddha, and thus these four buddhas clarify the essence of the eightfold doctrine
The Zen Commandments
>> June 05, 2011
When our mind is constantly focused on the future or the past, there is no way to rationally affect a change in our present condition.
Live in the present by practicing breathing meditation
To change this pattern of our mind, from always thinking about and fearing future or past actions, sit calmly for five minutes a day and practice breathing mediation. By doing this, we learn to focus strictly on the present, by focusing solely on the sensation of the breath as it enters and exits our body. And when a thought does arise, instead of allowing it to lead us out of the present moment, to the next task at hand, or next moment of worry about something yet to come, as we do now, gently bless the thought and let it go, without following it. Then, return our concentration to what is happening right now - the sensation of our breath as it enters and exits our body.
Learn how to live without fear by living in the present
The purpose of Buddhist breathing meditation is to allow us to find the beauty, joy and simplicity of living life right now in the present moment. By properly practicing breathing meditation we will quickly become aware as soon as our mind slips backwards into the past or begin to think about what might happen in the future. Once we are aware of this, we can gently bring our mind back into the present moment; by practicing in this way, we learn not to be led by fears of what might happen tomorrow or even awful things that happened in our past.
We can even eliminate basic nervousness, which is another form of fear or worry. If for example we have a job interview, or a presentation, by doing a breathing meditation prior to it, we stop projecting our fears into the future, which only serve to make us nervous. Instead, the meditation puts us back in the present and allows us to present our best, most confident side to our potential employer or our audience.
By training our minds in this way, we learn not to let our fears of the future or past have any power over us. Instead, we focus on the now. Eventually, we will find great calm and peace in living in the present moment. When we are completely present in the moment and work from that moment, we can use all the energy we used to expend in worry and fear to improve the quality of our life every moment of every day. For now is all we truly have.
References: The Zen Commandments - by Dean Sluyler
http://www.suite101.com/content/letting-go-of-fears-and-worries-a24038
Taken from The Buddha Forum, post from Venerable Dharmakara. Http://www.buddhaforum.org
Who is Vajrasattva?
>> June 04, 2011
Who is Vajrasattva?
Tibetan: dor je sem pa.
English: the Vajra Hero.
Vajrasattva means "diamond being" or "vajra-being". Its character is as strong as a vajra. By practicing his Dharma, the follower can avoid all evil thoughts, eliminate vexations and have unlimited happiness and wisdom. Meanwhile the guardian deities will forgive them for any mistakes they have made in practicing Buddhism and bestow them a fortune that makes up for any loss. Vajrasattvathe dhyani-boddhisattva or spiritual son of dhyani-buddha, Akshobhya is also regarded as chief of the five dhyani-buddhas. He is usually represented seated on a lotus posture. He wears a crown in which there is often an image of Akshobhya, and the dress and ornaments of Dhyani-Buddhisattva. Against his breast, he generally holds vajra in his right hand; but the vajra may be balanced on its point in the palm of his hand. With the left, he holds the ghanta on his hip. If standing, he balances the vajra in his right hand against his breast, while in the left, hanging pendent, he presses the ghanta against leg. Unlike the other Dhyan-Boddhas, he is always crowned with or without his sakti whom he presses against his breast in the yab-yum attitude, with the right hand holding vajra, while the left holds the ghanta on his hip.
http://discussions-neighborhoods.ebay.com/topic/Antiques-Antiquing-Discussions/Vajrasattva/1300087401
The Lotus Sutra
Here is an excerpt from an article at Wikipedia which discusses the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra is an important and popular text, and you can read more here:
Content
This sutra is known for its extensive instruction on the concept and usage of skillful means – (Sanskrit: upāya, Japanese: hōben), the seventh paramita or perfection of a Bodhisattva – mostly in the form of parables. It is also one of the first sutras to use the term Mahāyāna, or "Great Vehicle", Buddhism. Another concept introduced by the Lotus Sutra is the idea that the Buddha is an eternal entity, who achieved nirvana eons ago, but willingly chose to remain in the cycle of rebirth (samsara) to help teach beings the Dharma time and again. He reveals himself as the "father" of all beings and evinces the loving care of just such a father. Moreover, the sutra indicates that even after the Parinirvana (apparent physical death) of a Buddha, that Buddha continues to be real and to be capable of communicating with the world.
The idea that the physical death of a Buddha is the termination of that Buddha is graphically refuted by the movement and meaning of the scripture, in which another Buddha, who passed long before, appears and communicates with Shakyamuni himself. In the vision of the Lotus Sutra, Buddhas are ultimately immortal. A similar doctrine of the eternality of Buddhas is repeatedly expounded in the tathāgatagarbha sutras, which share certain family resemblances with the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
The Lotus Sutra also indicates (in Chapter 4) that emptiness (śūnyatā) is not the ultimate vision to be attained by the aspirant Bodhisattva: the attainment of Buddha Wisdom is indicated to be a bliss-bestowing treasure that transcends seeing all as merely empty or merely labeled.
In terms of literary style, the Lotus Sutra illustrates a sense of timelessness and the inconceivable, often using large numbers and measurements of time and space. Some of the other Buddhas mentioned in the Lotus Sutra are said to have lifetimes of dozens or hundreds of kalpas, while the number of Bodhisattvas mentioned in the "Earth Bodhisattva" chapter number in the billions, if not more. The Lotus Sutra also often alludes to a special teaching that supersedes everything else that the Buddha has taught, but the Sutra never actually states what that teaching is. This is said to be in keeping with the general Mahāyāna Buddhist view that the highest teaching cannot be expressed in words.
The ultimate teaching of the sutra, however, is implied to the reader that "full Buddhahood" is only arrived at by exposure to the truths expressed implicitly in the Lotus Sutra via its many parables and references to a heretofore less clearly imagined cosmological order. Skillful means of most enlightened Buddhas is itself the highest teaching (the "Lotus Sutra" itself), in conjunction with the sutra's stated tenets that all other teachings are subservient to, propagated by and in the service of this highest truth and teaching aimed at creating "full Buddhas" out of pratyekabuddhas, lesser buddhas and bodhisattvas. The text also implies a parent-child relationship between the innumerable Buddhas and human beings and other types of beings, with an explicit indication that all religions and paths are in some way or another part of the skillful means of this highest teaching, which reaches its fullest expression in the Lotus Sutra. The various religious institutions and their doctrinal proponents notwithstanding, all paths are then, officially speaking, part of the skillful means and plan of Buddhism, thus the sutra's former disavowal of all competitive doctrinal disputes.
Crucially, not only are there multiple Buddhas in this view, but an infinite stream of Buddhas extending through unquantifiable eons of time ("thousands of kotis of kalpas") in a ceaseless cycle of creations and conflagrations.
In the vision set out in this sutra, moreover, not only are Buddhas innumerable, but the universe encompasses realms of gods, devas, dragons and other mythological beings, requiring numerous dimensions to contain them. Buddhas are portrayed as the patient teachers of all such beings.
Some sources consider the Lotus Sutra to have a prologue and epilogue: respectively the Innumerable Meanings Sutra (無量義經 Ch: Wú Liáng Yì Jīng Jp: Muryōgi Kyō) and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy (普賢經 Ch: Pǔ Xián Jīng Jp: Fugen Kyō).
The Lotus Sutra claims to be superior to all other sutras. Chapter ten of the Burton Watson translation states:
".. Medicine King, now I say to you, I have preached various sutras, and among those sutras the Lotus is foremost!"
Chapter fourteen states:
"Among the sutras, it holds the highest place."
Chapter sixteen also reveals that Shakyamuni Buddha did not attain Buddhahood in his current lifetime, but in fact attained it countless lifetimes earlier. Chapter sixteen states:
"In all the worlds the heavenly and human beings and asuras all believe that the present Shakyamuni Buddha, after leaving the palace of the Shakyas, seated himself in the place of practice not far from the city of Gaya and there attained annuttara-samyak-sambodhi. But good men, it has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood."
Shrine Offerings
This is from a post at the discussion forum called "Buddha Forum." The author is Venerable Dharmakara. The site is at www.buddhaforum.org
This is a simple explanation of the meaning behind Buddhist devotional practices one see in shrines and temples, such as bowing, prostrating, lighting incense and candles, offering of flowers and fruit, which is common in all traditions.
Buddhist Shrines and Images
While it is difficult to imagine Buddhism without the Buddha image or Rupa, it was not until about 500 years after the passing away (Parinirvana) that the practice of making images of the Buddha started. Since that time, Buddha images have been the object of Buddhist devotion and identify for over 2000 years, acting as the inspirational focus and the means for devotees to express their reverence and gratitude for the Buddha's Dharma or Teachings.
The reasons for the Buddha image on the shrine are:
• to remind one of the qualities of Perfect Wisdom and Perfect Compassion of the Buddha,
• it serves to inspire us to develop these qualities as we recall the greatness of the Buddha and His Teachings.
Some days, we may feel agitated, angry or depressed. When we pass by a shrine in our homes or visit a temple, and see the peaceful image of the Buddha, it helps us to remember that there are beings that are peaceful and we can become like them too. Automatically, our minds settle down.
Buddhists pay respect to the Buddha to show their gratitude to Him for showing the way to Enlightenment and liberation by:
Folded Palms
• Place the palms together and raise them to the level of the chest.
• This gesture expresses our deep reverence to the Triple Gem - Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Prostration
• Prostrating before an image of the Buddha or members of the Sangha expresses our deep veneration.
• This also helps us to overcome egoistic feelings (pride) to become more ready to listen to the Teaching of the Buddha.
• As we prostrate before the Buddha images, we recall the qualities of the Buddha and develop respect for their qualities such as loving-kindness, compassion, virtue, patience, concentration and wisdom. Showing respect to the Buddha and his qualities inspires us to develop these extraordinary qualities ourselves.
What is the purpose of making offerings to the Buddha?
• We make offerings not because the Buddha needs them - the Buddha is an enlightened being, He certainly does not need an incense stick to be happy!
• Nor do we make offerings to win the Buddha's favour. The Buddha developed universal loving-kindness and compassion long ago and won't be swayed by flattery and bribery the way we ordinary beings are.
• We make offerings to create positive energy and develop good qualities such as giving with a respectful attitude and gratitude.
• Moreover, the offerings remind us of certain teachings of the Buddha.
Offering of Light (Lamp/Candle)
• Light symbolizes wisdom.
• Light drives away darkness.
• Similarly, the light of wisdom dispels the darkness of ignorance.
Offering of Incense
• When incense is lit, its fragrance spreads.
• Incense symbolizes the fragrance of pure moral conduct.
• This reminds us to cultivate good conduct.
Offering of Water
• Water symbolizes purity, clarity and calmness.
• This reminds us to practise the Buddha's teachings, so as to cleanse our minds, which are full of desire, ill-will and ignorance, and to attain the state of purity.
Offering of Fruit
• Fruit symbolizes the ultimate fruit of Enlightenment which is our goal.
• Fruit also reminds us that all actions will have their effect.
Offering of Flowers
• The freshness, fragrance and beauty of flowers are impermanent.
• Fresh and beautiful flowers will soon become withered, scentless and discoloured.
• This reminds us of the Buddha's teaching that all things are impermanent.
• We should value what we have now and live in the present.
The Lotus
The most common flower seen in Buddhist shrines, or on the base of statues, are lotuses, as they represent the potential or actuality of Enlightenment.
• The lotus grows out of the mud and blossoms above the water surface, yet it is not dirtied by the mud from which it grows.
• The Buddha is likened to the lotus. Like a lotus that rises out of a muddy pond, the Buddha rose above the defilements and sufferings of life.
• We are right now surrounded by defilements and sufferings, just as the lotus seed is surrounded by dirt, mud and filth. We should rise above our defilements and sufferings, just like the lotus flower arising above the muddy water.
• This serves to remind us of our own potential Buddhahood. We may have defilements today, but we all have the potential of growing out of defilements and achieving wisdom like the Buddha.
Source: Buddhist Studies
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/observances.htm
Green Tara Mantra
>> June 01, 2011
Green Tara mantra
Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā / Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
Tara, whose name means "star" or "she who ferries across," is a Bodhisattva of compassion who manifests in female form. In Tibetan, Tara is known as "Dölma" (Sgrol-ma), or "She Who Saves." In particular she represents compassion in action, since she’s in the process of stepping from her lotus throne in order to help sentient beings.
The syllable Om has no conceptual meaning, and is sound representing the entire universe, past present and future. You can read more about Om on the page discussing the Om shanti shanti shanti mantra.
Symbolic translation
The central part of Tara’s mantra is a loving play on her name. According to Sangharakshita, a traditional explanation of the mantra is that the variations of her name represent three progressive stages of salvation.
1. Tāre represents salvation from mundane dangers and suffering. Tara is seem as a savioress who can give aid from material threats such as floods, crime, wild animals, and traffic accidents. Tara is therefore said to protect against ordinary worldly dangers.
Tara is a bodhisattva embodying compassion in the female form of a young goddess.
2. Tuttāre represents deliverance into the spiritual path conceived in terms of individual salvation. In traditional terms, this is the path of the Arhant, which leads to individual liberation from suffering. This is seen in Mahayana Buddhism as a kind of enlightenment in which compassion does not figure strongly. Tara therefore offers individual protection from the spiritual dangers of greed, hatred, and delusion: the three factors that cause us individual suffering.
3. Lastly, ture represents the culmination of the spiritual path in terms of deliverance into the altruistic path of universal salvation – the Bodhisattva path. In the Bodhisattva path we aspire for personal enlightenment, but we also connect compassionately with the sufferings of others, and strive to liberate them at the same time as we seek enlightenment ourselves. Tara therefore delivers us from a narrow conception of the spiritual life. She saves us from the notion that spiritual progress is about narrowly liberating ourselves from our own suffering, and instead leads us to see that true spiritual progress involves having compassion for others.
By the time we have been liberated from mundane dangers, liberated from a narrow conception of the spiritual path, and led to a realization of compassion, we have effectively become Tara. In Buddhist practice the “deities” represent our own inner potential. We are all potentially Tara. We can all become Tara.
Svaha, according to Monier Monier-William’s Sanskrit Dictionary, means: "Hail!", "Hail to!" or "May a blessing rest on!" We could see this final blessing as symbolizing the recognition that we are, ultimately, Tara.
Her mantra can therefore be rendered as something like "OM! Hail to Tara (in her three roles as a savioress)!" although this may one of those occasions when the mantra is best left untranslated, because the words have no “meaning” in the normal sense of the word. Instead they are more like a play on her name, like variations in a piece of music by Bach or like improvisations in a piece of jazz music.
Literal translation
There’s a more literal meaning of the mantra as well:
“Tare” is the vocative form of Tara, so it means “O Tara!”
“Tu” is an exclamation that can mean “pray! I beg, do, now, then,” and so “tuttare” could mean something like “I entreat you, O Tara” or “I beg you, O Tara.”
“Ture” is probably the vocative form of “tura,” which means “quick, willing, prompt,” and so it would mean something like “O swift one!”
So the mantra could be rendered as “OM! O Tara! I entreat you, O Tara! O swift one! Hail!
Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
Pronunciation notes:
ā is like a in father
e is ay in lay
v is pronounced halfway between English v and w. If in doubt, then a w sound will do
In Tibetan pronunciation “svāhā” becomes “soha.” This is technically incorrect from a Sanskrit point of view, but it also has many centuries of tradition behind it, and in any event few Westerners pronounce Sanskrit correctly either! Still, outside of the Tibetan tradition it’s probably best to revert to the best approximation possible of the Sanskrit, where both a’s are long (as in father), and the v comes close to being an English “w” sound.
The Bodhisattva-Goddess Tārā (or Tara)
Tara means "star," "planet," or "she who ferries across." She is a bodhisattva embodying compassion in the female form of a young goddess. She is often considered to be such an advanced bodhisattva that she is actually a Buddha.
Tara’s name is said to derive from the verb meaning "to cross" or "to traverse". In Pali the verb tarati means "to get to the other side." This word is cognate with the Latin "trans" (across). The word Tara also literally means "star."
An interesting overlap between these two senses is the use of stars in navigation. The Pole Star, used at least for millennia to guide travelers, was known as Dhruva-Tara (the immovable star). Tara becomes a focal point on the far shore that helps us guide our lives in a safe direction. We can take her enlightened qualities of wisdom and compassion as our guide, moment by moment, as we navigate our lives.
A third meaning of "tara" is "the pupil of the eye," again suggesting a focal point and conveying a sense that Tara watches over those who navigate the treacherous waters of life in search of the further shore of liberation.
Tara’s name in Tibetan is Dölma, which means "She Who Saves." She is seen as guarding against the Eight Great Terrors of lions, elephants, fire, snakes, robbers, imprisonment, shipwreck or drowning, and man-eating demons. In each case these terrors are symbolic of spiritual dangers. For example, the First Dalai Lama described the demons against which Tara offers protection as being our self-consuming spiritual doubts.
A female bodhisattva
The most striking thing about Tara is also the most obvious: she is female. While there are many female representations of enlightenment, most are relatively obscure and male forms predominate. Tara, however, is very well known and is one of the most popular Buddhist deities in the Mahayana world, outside of the Far East, where Kwan Yin, the female form of Avalokiteshvara, predominates.
To westerners, having a female form representing compassion may seem natural, but it should be remembered that in traditional Buddhist iconography the male form tends to represent compassion while the female form more often represents wisdom. Tara bucks that trend.
Traditionally, even in Buddhism, which has seen countless enlightened women, the female form has most often been seen as disadvantageous for the pursuit of the spiritual life compared to the male form, to the extent that female spiritual aspirants often aspire to be reborn in male form to help them in their future spiritual endeavors.
There is an important sense, however, in which Tara is not female and in which the "male" Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are not male. Enlightened beings are said to be beyond the limiting conditions of ordinary human consciousness, and are not defined by the gender of their body. Gender is seen in Mahayana Buddhism as being a psycho-social construct that can be transcended. An important passage in the Vimalakirti Nirdesa, an important Mahayana Sutra, illustrates this.
In the story, Shariputra, the foremost in wisdom of the Buddha’s human disciples, is in conversation with an unnamed "goddess" who is immeasurably his spiritual superior. Shariputra, trapped by his dualistic thinking, asks the goddess, "Goddess, what prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state?" He assumes of course that the female form is a hindrance.
The goddess replies, "Although I have sought my "female state" for these twelve years, I have not yet found it." The goddess does not see herself as female, or Shariputra as male, because she has transcended limiting thinking, has transcended socio-cultural conditioning, and has even gone beyond any biological conditioning.
The goddess then seriously messes with Shariputra by transforming herself into his form and transforming him into a female. She says:
"All women appear in the form of women in just the same way as the elder appears in the form of a woman. While they are not women in reality, they appear in the form of women. With this in mind, the Buddha said, ‘In all things, there is neither male nor female.’"
Although the goddess is not named, she may have been a prototype for the much later emergence of Tara herself, who is said to have spoken the following words in her earlier incarnation as Jnanachandra:
Here there is no man, there is no woman,
No self, no person, and no consciousness.
The labels ‘male’ or ‘female’ have no essence,
But deceive the evil-minded world.
The green goddess
The other striking thing about Tara is her greenness. She is represented as a beautiful, often voluptuous, sixteen-year-old woman, clad is silks and jewels: a highly attractive figure. And yet the color of her skin is green, and this surely clashes with her otherwise attractive appearance.
Tara is associated with the color green in a number of ways. First, as we will see when we consider Tara’s origins, in one myth she is said to have been given her name by Amoghasiddhi Buddha, who is himself green. Tara is Amoghasiddhi’s spiritual consort.
Secondly, both Tara and Amoghasiddhi are connected, in the Five-Buddha Mandala, with the element Air, which is itself associated with that color.
Thirdly, Green Tara is a forest goddess, and in one story is shown as being clad in leaves. Her Pure Land, in distinction to others that are composed of precious gems, is said to be lush and verdant:
Covered with manifold trees and creepers, resounding with the sound of many birds,
And with murmur of waterfalls, thronged with wild beasts of many kinds;
Many species of flowers grow everywhere.
She is therefore a female form of the "Green Man" figure who is found carved in many European churches and cathedrals, and who is found in the Islamic traditions as the figure Al-Khidr.
Tara’s symbols
Tara holds an utpala, or blue lotus, in her right hand, which is held at chest level. This hand is simultaneously in the vitarka, or teaching mudra. Tara may save, but the beneficiaries of her protective powers learn to save themselves through following her teachings!
The utpala is a night-blooming flower, and so Tara protects at the time of greatest fear, during both literal darkness and while we are in the darkness of ignorance.
The core significance of the lotus flower is that it remains unstained even in the most contaminated environments. Early Buddhist texts often refer to the fact that water simply runs off of a lotus. The Dhammapada, an early Buddhist teaching, refers to the unstained nature of the lotus in this way:
58. Yathā saṅkāradhānasmiṃ
ujjhitasmiṃ mahāpathe
Padumaṃ tattha jāyetha
sucigandhaṃ manoramaṃ.
59. Evaṃ saṅkārabhūtesu
andhabhūte puthujjane
Atirocati paññāya
sammāsambuddhasāvako.
Which means:
58. As upon a heap of rubbish,
Thrown out by the highway,
May grow a lotus
Delightful and of pure scent,
59. So, among defiled beings,
Among blind, unawakened beings,
The disciple of the Fully and Perfectly Awakened One
Shines with wisdom.
The lotus has therefore, since the earliest days of Buddhism, and probably even before then, signified the way in which awakened wisdom can exist in the world without being contaminated by it.
via http://www.wildmind.org/mantras/figures/greentara
Getting closer to the Balm of Acceptance
Getting Closer to the Balm of Acceptance
by Sharon Salzberg
In Buddhist teaching, suffering isn’t considered redemptive. What is redemptive, and healing, is our transformed relationship to suffering. Each element of our experience provides its own challenges and opportunities for a new relationship. When we are in pain or distress, we can hold that pain in bitterness or in compassion, in isolation or in connection to community. We can respond to the helping hands that might be reaching toward us, or we can refuse to believe that we deserve any support at all.
In contrast to the ways most of us have been conditioned, Buddhism emphasizes the naturalness of suffering in a world of constant change. Buddhists try to address the assumptions we carry that define suffering as a betrayal, as something blameworthy that we should hide or be ashamed of, and we work to loosen those habits of mind.
When my friend Meg faced death after an intense, eleven-year effort to overcome ovarian cancer, she took morphine. “I don’t want to take more than I need. I don’t want to be foggy minded. But I don’t need to be a hero about it either. If I hurt, I’ll take it. I don’t think you get extra points for suffering.”
Meg was a warm, compassionate, caring person, even through the difficulties of her illness. She developed an openheartedness to others through the relationship she fostered to her own pain. One day, I experienced a very moving encounter with her on the phone. I had just undergone exploratory surgery to determine whether an ovarian tumor was benign or cancerous, the same kind of cancer she had. I had learned the results of my test only a few days before, and when I told her that the tumor had proved to be benign, Meg said to me with such joy, “Sharon, I have been praying for you. I am so happy for you.” Her response went beyond ordinary kindheartedness. In her offering of concern, she didn’t take center stage; her own situation was not the reference point. In the intensity and purity of her caring, she was simply delighted that I was healthy.
At a time when she was suffering herself, it must have required a great effort to include another in her concerns. But she gave me the gift of her wholehearted prayers and joy without a hint of comparison or struggle. I am sure that if I had commented on how extraordinary I found her generosity of spirit, she would have been quite puzzled. Meg’s response arose out of how she viewed life — not as something free of suffering if you do all the right things, but as something filled with happiness and pain in the natural course of events. Neither is left out.
Through the Buddha’s teaching, we learn that suffering isn’t aberrant, but inevitable; death is not a personal failing, but the result of being born; and hostility toward our condition only isolates us and brings us further from the balm of giving and receiving kindness. In Buddhism, we use meditation to train our minds so that we can open more fully to our situation. Rather than close down and withdraw, we open to the pain — which is a natural part of life — that helps us inevitably care for ourselves.
The process of learning to let go, however, isn’t a linear one, where we suddenly “let go.” Rather, it happens in fits and starts, where we open but then close down; we release clinging and then somehow forget that it is that very release that actually makes us happy. We need to remember to begin again after getting lost or overwhelmed; we learn to do that and return to what is happening in the moment with less judgment, more kindness toward ourselves. Being discouraged or blaming ourselves for not being perfect is a natural part of a genuine path, part of how transformation happens.
While some people will begin training when faced with a health crisis or a situation of extreme suffering — and I do know people who do that and still find benefit — it is certainly far better to begin in ordinary times, when conditions aren’t so hard. Then, when we really need it, that inner strength has been cultivated, and our ability to exhibit love and compassion for ourselves and others is much closer at hand.
Source: Sh'ma Journal
http://www.shma.com/2011/05/suffering-is-part-of-life-getting-closer-to-the-balm-of-acceptance/
via Buddhaforum.org
Sex Slave Ring Broken Up in Thailand
>> May 31, 2011
Thai police recently busted a sex slavery ring, rescuing nine boys and arresting a Buddhist monk. Police footage shows the monk in possession of several fake guns. Experts working the case say he and another Thai man bought boys, held them prisoner and then sold them to Westerners for sex.
The leader of the ring was sentenced to 84 years in prison for human trafficking and sexual abuse, a sentence that has since been halved because the judges said he’d cooperated with investigators and the court. The monk, who has been expelled from the clergy, received a 21-year prison sentence for trafficking and sexually abusing under-aged children.
Read More >>>
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/24/fighting-child-sex-slavery-in-thailand/
Via Buddhaforum.org
Medicine Buddha Vows
>> May 26, 2011
Medicine Buddha has made a vow to help those who call upon him when ill or injured, and to aid those who revere him to achieve a long and healthy life. As Amitabha is the Buddha of the Pure Land of the Western Paradise, the Medicine Buddha is the Buddha of the Pure Land of the Eastern Paradise.
12 Vows of Medicine Buddha
1. I vow that my body shall shine as beams of brilliant light on this infinite and boundless world, showering on all beings, getting rid of their ignorance and worries with my teachings. May all beings be like me, with a perfect status and character, upright mind and soul, and finally attaining enlightenment like the Buddha.
2. I vow that my body be like crystal, pure and flawless, radiating rays of splendid light to every corner, brightening up and enlightening all beings with wisdom. With the blessings of compassion, may all beings strengthen their spiritual power and physical energy, so that they could fulfil their dreams in the right track.
3. I vow that I shall grant by means of boundless wisdom, all beings with the inexhaustible things that they require, and relieving them from all pains and guilt resulting from materialistic desires. Although clothing, food, accommodation and transport are essentials, it should be utilised wisely as well. Besides self-consumption, the remaining should be generously shared with the community so that all could live harmoniously together.
4. I vow to lead those who have gone astray back to the path of righteousness. Let them be corrected and returned to the Buddha way for enlightenment.
5. I vow that I shall enable all sentient beings to observe precepts for spiritual purity and moral conduct. Should there be any relapse or violation, they shall be guided for repentance. Provided they truly regret their wrong-doings, and vow for a change with constant prayers and strong faith in the Buddha, they could receive the rays of forgiveness, recover their lost moral and purity.
6. I vow that all beings who are physically disabled or sick in all aspects be blessed with good health, both physically and mentally. All who pays homage to Buddha faithfully will be blessed.
7. I vow to relieve all pain and poverty of the very sick and poor. The sick be cured, the helpless be helped, the poor be assisted.
8. I vow to help women who are undergoing sufferings and tortures and seeking for transformation into men. By hearing my name, paying homage and praying, their wishes would be granted and ultimately attain Buddhahood.
9. I vow to free all beings from evil thoughts and its control. I shall lead them onto the path of light through inculcating them with righteousness and honour so that they will walk the Buddha way.
10. I vow to save prisoners who have genuinely repented and victims of natural disasters. Those who are sincere will be blessed by my supreme powers and be freed from sufferings.
11. I vow to save those who suffer from starvation and those who committed crime to obtain food. If they hear my name and faithfully cherish it, I shall lead them to the advantages of Dharma and favour them with best food and eventually lead a tranquil and happy life.
12. I vow to save those who suffer from poverty, tormented by mosquitoes and wasps day and night. If they come across my name, cherish it with sincerity and practise dharma to strengthen their merits, they will be able to achieve their wishes.
Extracted from The Sutra of the Master of Healing.
Homage to the Lord Master of Healing
The Lord Master of Healing is also known as the Medicine Master Buddha Who Dispels Calamities and Lengthens Life.
More and more devotees are reciting his dharani, seeking the blessings and compassion of the Medicine Master Buddha to help dispel their karmic obstacles, to free them from sufferings, illnesses and afflictions, and consequently lengthening their lives - hence this is A Mystic Formula for Dispelling Disease and Suffering.
This healing dharani, fervently recited 7 times or 49 times or 109 times depending on the situation - over a glass of plain water is able to relieve or heal a sick person.
On such an occasion, the above practice should be done daily (or a few times a day as the situation requires) until the sick person recovers.
Devotees who wish to uphold this dharani should sincerely attempt to recite it everyday 3 times, 7 times or according to one’s wisdom.
Medicine Master’s True Words
For Anointing The Crown
In Sanskrit
Namo bhagavate bhaisajyaguru-vaidurya
prabha-rajaya tathagataya arhate samyak-
sambuddhaya tadyatha. Om bhaisajye
bhaisajye bhaisajya-samudgate svaha!
This can be translated as:
"I honour the Lord Master of Healing, the Kin of Lapis Lazuli Radiance, Tathagata, Arhat, Perfect Enlightened One, saying: To the healing, to the healing, to the supreme healing hail!"
via http://web.singnet.com.sg/~alankhoo/Medicine.htm
Breathing and Meditation
What we notice from watching our breath during mindfulness meditation is that the breath is impermanent ever-changing: it goes in it comes out it starts it stops it slows it speeds up it gets heavier then lighter lighter then heavier over and over. This insight leads us to the general conclusion that everything is impermanent. Mountains arise from colliding tectonic plates erode and disappear (albeit very slowly) and so it is we observe with everything. Everything arises runs its course and ceases. Everything is impermanent even us: we arise at birth run our course (age) and cease (die).
That is one of the most important insights that arises from meditation.
Why?
Because we can learn from that simple insight how to live our lives so that we reduce our everyday stress and anxiety and increase our peacefulness and well-being.
via Buddhaforum.org
25 Years After Buddha, Women Are being Acknwledged
Buddhist women are celebrating a landmark victory: In April, the renowned Institute for Buddhist Dialectical Studies (IBD) in Dharamsala, India, conferred the degree of "Geshe" -- the Tibetan equivalent of Ph.D. -- to Venerable Kelsang Wangmo, a German nun. This is a historical first in so many ways: Traditionally, Geshe degrees are conferred on monks after 12 or more years of rigorous study in Buddhist philosophy. For the first time in history, a nun has now received this degree, and even more surprising, a Western woman. Venerable Kelsang Wangmo is finally rewarded for mastering the strenuous study course in highest Buddhist philosophy. She has already been teaching philosophy at the Institute for more than five years.
So, why is this such a big deal and why did it take so long? After all, in the West the first professor degree was awarded to a woman at a European university almost 300 years ago, in 1732. (Scientist Laura Bassi taught physics at the University of Bologna.) And more than 2,500 years ago the Buddha himself allowed women into his order and ordained his own foster mother, Mahaprajapati. She and 500 like-minded women had to shave their heads and walk 350 miles barefoot to show their unwavering determination, before the Buddha finally granted their request -- a revolutionary decision in India at the time. The Buddha's order was the first in Asia to formally allow women in its ranks.
Read More >>>
www.huffingtonpost.com/michaela-haas/buddhism-women_b_862798.html
via Buddhaforum.org
The Dhammapada
>> March 31, 2011
Here is a very good resource for The Dhammapada. I got this link from Buddha Forum.
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Renouncing Cyclic Existence
>> March 23, 2011
When I was a boy, Ling Rinpochay, who was then my junior tutor, was always very stern; he never smiled, not even a little. This bothered me a lot. By wondering why he was so humorless, I examined more and more what I was doing in my own mind. This helped me develop self-awareness with regard to my motivation. By my early twenties when I had matured, Ling Rinpochay completely changed; he always had a big smile when we were together.
Effective practice of the morality of individual liberation depends upon sound, long-term motivation. For example, one should not become a monk or a nun to avoid having to work at a worldly job for food and clothing. Also, it is not sufficient merely to seek to avoid difficulty in this lifetime. To be motivated by such trifling purposes does not help to achieve freedom from cyclic existence--the ultimate reason to practice the morality of individual liberation.
This is confirmed by Buddha's life story. One day Shakyamuni slipped outside the palace wall to experience life for himself. For the first time he saw a sick person, an old person, and a corpse. Deeply troubled by the suffering of sickness, aging, and death, he came to the conclusion that worldly life is without substance. Later, inspired by several religious practitioners, Buddha became captivated by the possibility of a higher, more meaningful, spiritual life. At that point he escaped from the palace, leaving his ordinary life behind to pursue that vision.
What does this teach us? Like Buddha we need to begin by becoming concerned about the suffering of cyclic existence and by turning away from temporary distractions. Influenced by this new attitude, we must take up a system of morality by renouncing cyclic existence and by taking vows of pure behavior through seeking to avoid the ten nonvirtues. (p.29)
--from How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins
Fear and Fearlessness
Perhaps the first reaction we have to our own suffering is fear. Fear arises in us almost automatically when we experience strong emotions or pain. We don't have to sit there and generate fear--it just arises. When we experience a disturbing emotion such as jealousy we think, "No, I don't want this." We would rather not experience it. However, if we examine fear closely, we see that it is a thought to which we have been habituating our mind for a very long time. We have repeated this thought pattern of fear for many years, and from a Buddhist point of view, many lifetimes.
In just the same way, when we habituate our minds to being fearless, to being brave and open towards our emotions, fearlessness will also arise naturally. In order for this to happen, we must train in applying antidotes to our thought patterns that are caught up in fear. In this way, we transcend fear first through a conceptual process, which later becomes nonconceptual, a natural fearlessness. In order to become fearless in this way, we need determination and the willingness to face our emotions. With that strong determination and courage, fearlessness will arise effortlessly.
--from Trainings in Compassion: Manuals on the Meditation of Avalokiteshvara by trans. by Tyler Dewar under the guidance of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
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Meditative Stabilization
There is both a reason and a purpose for cultivating the meditative stabilization observing exhalation and inhalation of the breath. The reason is mainly to purify impure motivations. What exactly is to be purified? The main of these are the three poisons--desire, hatred, and obscuration. Even though we have these at all times and even though the meditator will still retain them, she or he is seeking to suppress their manifest functioning at that time. The specific purpose for cleansing impure motivations before meditation is to dispel bad motivations connected with this lifetime, such as having hatred toward enemies, attachment to friends, and so forth.
In terms of the practice I am explaining here, even the thought of a religious practitioner of small capacity is included within impure motivations; such a person engages in practice mainly for the sake of a good future lifetime. Similarly, if on this occasion one has the motivation of a religious practitioner of middling capacity--that of only oneself escaping from cyclic existence, this is also impure.
What is a pure motivation? To take as one's aim the welfare of all sentient beings. This is the motivation of a religious practitioner of great capacity. Meditators should imagine or manifest their own impure motivation in the form of smoke, and with the exhalation of breath should expel all bad motivation. When inhaling, they should imagine that all the blessings and good qualities of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, in the form of bright light, are inhaled into them. This practice is called purification by way of the descent of ambrosia. There are many forms of this purification, but the essence of the practice is as just indicated.
--from Calm Abiding and Special Insight: Achieving Spiritual Transformation Through Meditation by Geshe Gedun Lodro
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Deity Yoga
At the beginning of the process of deity meditation and mantra repetition one meditates on emptiness, settling the non-inherent existence of oneself and the deity through a reasoning such as that of dependent-arising--the fact that both oneself and the deity arise in dependence on their respective bases of designation. One's own final nature and the final nature of the deity are the same, an emptiness of inherent existence.
To perform deity yoga one does not just withdraw ordinary appearances and then appear as a deity but causes the mind realising emptiness itself to appear as a deity. Thus, it is essential initially to meditate on emptiness, cleansing all appearances in emptiness. One then uses that wisdom consciousness realising emptiness as the basis of emanation of a divine body. This must be done at least in imitation of a consciousness actually doing this, for meditation on a truly existent divine body, instead of helping, will only increase adherence to inherent existence. Meditated properly, the appearance of a divine figure is the sport of the ultimate mind of enlightenment, first in imitation and later in fact. (p.39)
--from Deity Yoga in Action and Performance Tantra by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsong-ka-pa, and Jeffrey Hopkins, published by Snow Lion Publications
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The Bodhisattva's Confession of Ethical Downfalls
>> February 17, 2011
The Bodhisattva's Confession of Ethical Downfalls
Prostrations to the Thirty-Five Buddhas
To increase the benefit of each prostration, first prostrate three times while reciting:
om namo manjushriye namo sushriye namo uttama shriye soha
Continue to prostrate while reciting the names of the Buddhas and the confession prayer.
I, (say your name) throughout all times, take refuge in the Gurus; I take refuge in the Buddhas; I take refuge in the Dharma; I take refuge in the Sangha.
To the Founder, the Transcendent Destroyer, the One Thus Gone, the Foe Destroyer, the Fully Enlightened One, the Glorious Conqueror from the Shaykas I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Great Destroyer, Destroying with Vajra Essence I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Radiating Light I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the King with Power of over the Nagas I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the the Leader of the Warriors I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Blissful One I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Fire I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Moonlight I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, Whose Pure Vision Brings Accomplishments I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Moon I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Stainless one I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Giver I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Pure One I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Bestower of Purity I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Celestial Waters I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Deity of the Celestial Waters I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Good I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Sandalwood I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the One of Unlimited Splendor I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Light I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One without Sorrow I bow down.
To the One Thus Gone, the Son of the Desireless One I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Flower I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, Who Understands Reality Enjoyig the Radiant Light of Purity I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, Who Understands Reality Enjoyig the Radiant Light of of the Lotus I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious Gem I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One who is Mindful I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Whose Name is Extremely Renowned, I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the King Holding the Banner of Victory over the Senses I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Who Subdues Everything Completely I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Victorious One in All Battles I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Gone to Perfect Self-control I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Glorious One Who Enhances and Illuminates Completely I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Jewel Lotus Who Subdues All I bow down
To the One Thus Gone, the Foe Destroyer, the Fully Enlightened One, the King with Power over Mount Meru, Always Remaining in the Jewel and the Lotus I bow down.
All you thirty-five Buddhas, and all the others, those thus gone, foe destroyers, fully enlightened ones and transcendent destroyers who are existing, sustaing and living throughout the ten directions of sentient beings' worlds -- all you Buddhas, please give me your attention.
In this life, and throughout beginningless lives in all the realms of samsara, I have created, caused others to create, and rejoiced at the creation of negative karmas such as misusing offerings to holy objects, misusing offerings to the Sangha, stealing the posessions of the Sangha of the ten directions; I have caused others to create these negative actions and rejoiced at their creation.
I have created the five heinous actions, caused others to create them and rejoiced at their creation. I have committed the ten non-virtuous actions, involved others inthem, and rejoiced at their involvement.
Being obscured by all this karma, I have created the cause for myself and other sentient beings to be reborn in the hells, as animals, as hungry ghosts, in irreligious places, amongst barbarians, as long-lived gods, with imperfect senses, holding wrong views, and being displeased with the presence of a Buddha.
Now before these Buddhas, transcendent destroyers who have become transcendental wisdom, who have become thae compassionate eye, who have become witnesses, who have become valid and see with their omniscient minds, I am confessing and accepting all these actions as negative. I will not conceal or hide them, and from now on, I will refrain from committing these negative actions.
Buddhas and transcendent destroyers, please give me your attention: in this life and throughout beginningless lives in all the realms of samsara, whatever root of virtue I have created through even the smallest acts of charity such as giving one mouthful of food to a being born as an animal, whatever root of virtue I have created by abiding in pure conduct, whatever root of virtue I have created by fully ripening sentient beings' minds, whatever root of virtue I have created of the highest transcendent wisdom.
Bringing together all these merits of both myself and others, I now dedicate them to the highest of which there is no higher, to that even above the highest, to the highest of the high, to the higher of the high. Thus I dedicate them completely to the highest, fully accomplished enlightenment.
Just as the Buddhas and transcendent destroyers of the past have dedicated, just sa the Buddhas and transcendent destroyers of the future will dedicate, and just as the Buddhas and transcendent destroyers of the present are dedicating, in the same way I make this dedication.
I confess all my negative actions separately and rejoice in all merits. I implore the Buddhas to grant my request that I may realize the ultimate, sublime, highest transcendental wisdom.
To the sublime kings of the human beings living now, to those of the past, and to those who have yet to appear, to all those whose knowledge is as vast as the infinite ocean, with my hands folded in respect, I go for refuge.
From Pearl of Wisdom - Book I compiled by Ven. Thubten Chodron.
Source
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Medicine Buddha Sadhana
Medicine Buddha Sadhana
by Thubten Gyatso
Take Refuge and Generate Bodhicitta (three times)
To the Buddha, the Dharma and the sublime community, I go for refuge until I am enlightened. From the virtuous merits I collect by practicing giving and other perfections, may I quickly attain buddhahood in order to lead each and every sentient being into that unsurpassable state.
The Four Immeasurables
May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all sentient beings never be separated from the happiness which is without suffering.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from both attachment and hatred, holding some close and others distant.
Cultivation of Special Bodhicitta
Especially for the benefit of all sentient beings, I will quickly, very quickly, attain the precious state of perfect and complete buddhahood. For this reason, I will practice the yoga method of guru Medicine Buddha.
Seven-Limbed Prayer
I prostrate to the Guru Medicine Buddha.
Each and every offering, including those actually performed and those mentally-transformed, I present to you.
I confess all non-virtuous actions accumulated since beginningless time.
I rejoice in the virtues of both ordinary and noble beings.
As our guide, I request you, O Buddha, to turn the wheel of Dharma until samsara ends.
All virtues, both my own and those of others, I dedicate to the ripening of the two Bodhicittas and the attainment of Buddhahood for the sake of sentient beings.
Mandala Offering/Prayer of Request
I beseech you, Bhagawan Medicine Guru, whose sky-colored, holy body of lapis lazuli signifies your omniscient wisdom and compassion as vast as limitless space, please grant me your blessings.
I beseech you, compassionate Medicine Guru, holding in your right hand the king of medicines, symbolizing your vow to help all pitiful sentient beings plagued by the four hundred and twenty-four diseases, please grant me your blessings.
I beseech you, compassionate Medicine Guru, holding in your left hand a bowl of nectar, symbolizing your vow to give the glorious undying nectar--of the Dharma--which eliminates the degenerations of old age, sickness and death, please grant me your blessings.
Visualization
In the space in front of you is the divine form of Guru Medicine Buddha. He is seated on a lotus and moon cushion. His body is in the nature of deep blue light, the color of lapis lazuli. He is very serene and adorned with silk robes and magnificent jewel ornaments.
Guru Medicine Buddha's right hand rests on his right knee, palm outward in the gesture of giving realizations. His left hand rests in his lap, holding a nectar bowl of medicine that cures all ills, hindrances and obstacles.
Above the crown of Guru Medicine Buddha is a wish-granting jewel, the essence of which is Guru. Above that is Buddha Ngon.Kyen. Gyal.Po, whose body is red-colored, his right hand in the mudra of bestowing sublime realizations and his left hand in the mudra of concentration.
Above him is Buddha Cho.Drag Gya.Tso Yang, with a yellow-colored body and hands in the same mudra.
Above him is Buddha Nya.Ngam Mi.Cho.Pa, light red in color and both hands in the mudra of concentration.
Above him is Buddha Ser.Zang Dri.Me, pale yellow in color, his right hand in the mudra of expounding the Dharma and his left hand in the mudra of concentration.
Above him is the Buddha Rin.Chen Da.Wa Dang Pai.Ma Rab.Tu Gyan.Pa Zi.Ji Dra.Yang Gyi Gyal.Po, reddish-yellow in color and hands in the same mudra.
Above him is Buddha Tsan.Leg Yang.Drag, yellow in color and hands in the same mudra.
Requests to the Medicine Buddhas (Repeat each verse seven times.
After the seventh recitation, as you repeat "May your vow...," the Medicine Buddha to whom the request is made absorbs into the one below, until the single divine form of Medicine Buddha remains for the final request.)
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Tsan.Leg Yang.Drag, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Rin.Chen Da.Wa Dang Pai.Ma Rab.Tu Gyan.Pa Kya.Pa Zi.Ji Dra.Yang Gyi Gyal.Po.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Ser.Zang Dri.Me.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Nya.Ngan Mi.Chog.Pa.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Cho.Drag Gya.Tso Yang.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Ngon.Kyen Gyal.Po.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Man.Gyi.La Bendurya O.Gyi Gyal.Po.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
Visualization
Granting your request, from the heart and holy body of the King of Medicine, infinite rays of light pour down completely filling your body from head to toe. They purify all your diseases and afflictions due to spirits and their causes, all your negative karma and mental obscurations. In the nature of light,your body becomes clean and clear as crystal.
The light rays pour down twice more, each time filling your body with blissful clean-clear light which you absorb.
At the heart of Medicine Buddha appears a lotus and moon disc. Standing at the center of the moon disc, is the blue seed-syllable OM surrounded by the syllables of the mantra. As you recite the mantra, visualize rays of light radiating out in all directions from the syllables at his heart. The light rays pervade the sentient beings of the six realms. Through your great love wishing them to have happiness and, through your great compassion wishing them to be free from all sufferings, they are purified of all diseases, afflictions due to spirits and their causes, all their negative karma and mental obscurations.
Recitation of the Mantra
om namo bhagawate bhekandzyai - guru bendurya prabha randzaya - tatagataya - arhate - samyaksam buddhaya - tayata om bhekandzyai bhekandzyai - maha bhekandzyai bhekandzyai - randza samungate soha
Short Mantra
tatagataya - arhate - samyaksam buddhaya - tayata om bhekandzyai bhekandzyai - maha bhekandzyai bhekandzyai - randza samungate soha
Feel Great Joy and Think
All sentient beings are transformed into the aspect of the Medicine Buddha Guru. How wonderful that I am now able to lead all sentient beings into the Medicine Buddha's Enlightenment.
Simplified Visualization
Visualize the Medicine Buddha Guru above the crown of your head and make the following request seven times, followed by the mantra recitation and visualization.
The fully realized destroyer of all defilements, fully completed Buddha, having fully realized the absolute truth of all phenomena, Buddha Man.Gyi.La Bendurya O.Gyi.Gyal.Po.La, to you I prostrate and go for refuge, to you I make offerings.
May your vow to benefit all sentient beings now ripen for myself and others.
Mantra Recitation and Visualization for Simplified Visualization
Purifying rays of light pour down from the Guru Medicine Buddha's heart and holy body eliminating your sicknesses and afflictions due to spirits and their causes, all your negative karma and mental obscurations.
Your body is completely filled with light and becomes clean-clear like crystal. Then the rays radiate out in all directions, purifying the sicknesses and afflictions of all mother sentient beings.
The Guru Medicine Buddha melts into light and absorbs into your heart.
Dedication
Due to these merits, may I complete the ocean-like actions of the sons of the Victorious Ones. May I become the holy savior, refuge and helper for the sentient beings who have repeatedly been kind to me in past lives.
By the virtues received from attempting this practice, may all living beings who see, hear, touch or remember me--even those who say my name--at that moment be released from their miseries and experience happiness forever.
As all sentient beings, infinite as space, are encompassed by the Guru Medicine Buddha's compassion, may I also become the guide of sentient beings existing throughout all ten directions of the universe.
Because of these virtues, may I quickly become Guru Medicine Buddha and lead each and every sentient being into his enlightened realm.
Source
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Vajrasattva Sadhana
Vajrasattva Purification
From Ven. Thubten Chodron's Pearl of Wisdom, Book II
(used with permission)
Visualization
Visualize about four inches above your head an open white lotus upon which is a moon disc. Vajrasattva is seated upon this. He is white, translucent and adorned with beautiful ornaments and clothes of celestial silk. His two hands are crossed at his heart; the right holds a vajra, symbolic of great bliss; his left holds a bell, symbolic of the wisdom of emptiness. The vajra and bell together signify his attainment of the enlightened state, the inseparable unity of the wisdom and form bodies. At his heart is a moon disc with the seed-syllable HUM at its center and the letters of Vajrasattva's hundred-syllable mantra standing clockwise around its edge.
Refuge and Generating Bodhicitta (three times)
I take refuge in the Three Jewels.
I will liberate all sentient beings and lead them to enlightenment.
Thus, I will perfectly generate the mind dedicated to attaining
enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.
The Power of Regret
Recollect, with deep regret, the specific negativities you have created. Then meditate deeply on the meaning of the following:
"The negative karma I have accumulated from beginningless time is as extensive as the ocean. Although I know that each negative action leads to countless eons of suffering, it seems that I am constantly striving to create nothing but negative actions. Even though I try to avoid non-virtue and practice positive acts, day and night without respite, negativities and moral downfalls come to me like rainfall. I lack the ability to purify these faults so that no trace of them remains. With these negative imprints still in my mind, I could suddenly die and find myself falling to an unfortunate rebirth. What can I do? Please Vajrasattva, with your great compassion, guide me from such misery!"
The Power of Remedial Action
From the HUM at Vajrasattva's heart, light radiates in all directions, requesting the Buddhas to bestow their blessings. They accept the request and send white rays of light and nectar, the essence of which is the knowledge of their body, speech and mind. The light and nectar absorb into the HUM and the letters of the mantra at Vajrasattva's heart. They then fill his whole body completely, enhancing the magnificence of his appearance and increasing the brilliance of the mantra.
While reciting the mantra, visualize that white rays of light and nectar stream continuously from the HUM and mantra at Vajrasattva's heart. They flow down through the crown of your head and fill every cell of your body and mind with infinite bliss. Recite the mantra at least 21 times or more, if possible.
om vajrasattva samaya manu palaya - vajrasattva deno patita - dido may bhawa - suto kayo may bhawa - supo kayo may bhawa - anu rakto may bhawa - sarwa siddhi mepar yatsa - sarwa karma su tsa may - tsitam shriyam kuru hum - ha ha ha ha ho - bhagawan - sarwa tatagata - vajra ma may mu tsa - vajra bhawa maha samaya sattva - ah hum pey
If you have not yet memorized the long mantra, or if you are pressed for time, you may recite the short mantra at least 28 times.
om vajrasattva hum
While reciting either of the mantras, continue to visualize the flow of light and nectar and perform the following four visualizations alternately.
Purification of Body
Your disturbing attitudes and negativities in general and particularly those of the body, take the form of black ink. Sickness takes the form of pus and blood and afflictions caused by spirits appear in the form of scorpions, snakes, frogs and crabs. Flushed out by the light and nectar, they all leave your body through the lower openings, like filthy liquid flowing down a drain pipe. Feel completely empty of these problems and negativities; they no longer exist anywhere.
Purification of Speech
Your disturbing attitudes and imprints of negativities of speech take the form of liquid tar. The light and nectar fill your body as water fills a dirty glass: the negativities, like the dirt, rise to the top and flow out through the upper openings of your body: your eyes, ears, mouth, nose, etc. Feel completely empty of these problems; they no longer exist.
Purification of the Mind
Your disturbing attitudes and the imprints of mental negativities appear as darkness at your heart. When struck by the forceful stream of light and nectar, the darkness completely vanishes. It is like turning a light on in a room: the darkness does not go anywhere, it simply ceases to exist. Feel that you are completely empty of all these problems; they are non-existent.
Simultaneous Purification
Do the three above visualizations simultaneously. This sweeps away the subtle obscurations that prevent you from seeing correctly all that exists. Feel completely free of these obscurations.
The Power of the Promise
After reciting the mantra and doing the visualizations, make the following promise to Vajrasattva, specifying a period of time for which you intend to keep it:
"I shall not create these negative actions from now until ______."
Vajrasattva is extremely pleased and says, "My spiritual child of the essence, all your negativities, obscurations and degenerated vows have been completely purified."
With delight, Vajrasattva melts into light and dissolves into you. Your body, speech and mind become inseparably one with Vajrasattva's holy body, speech and mind. Concentrate on this.
Dedication
Due to this merit may I soon
Attain the enlightened state of Vajrasattva,
That I may be able to liberate
All sentient beings from their suffering.
May the precious bodhi mind
Not yet born arise and grow.
May that born have no decline,
But increase forever more.
Source
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The Ten Perfections
>> February 16, 2011
The ten paramis or perfections provide a highly useful framework for guiding Dharma practice in daily life. Any activity or relationship approached wisely with the primary purpose of developing the perfections in a balanced way becomes part of the practice.
The perfections also provide one of the few reliable ways of measuring the accomplishments of your life. “Accomplishments” in the realm of work and relationships have a way of turning into dust, but perfections of the character, once developed, are dependable and lasting.
This four-week retreat presents the perfections under the four factors that make up the eighth perfection, determination. These four factors—discernment, truth, relinquishment, and calm—highlight two facts. The first is that discernment is needed to convert the perfections from generic virtues into a path to awakening. Second, the path to awakening is a truth of the will: You have to want freedom, and stay true to that desire, for freedom to occur.
Each week’s video presentation will contain an exercise to develop the perfections in daily activities, and will be accompanied by readings to help broaden your understanding of what the perfections entail.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu—known as Ajaan Geoff to his students—has translated several meditation guides from Thai, and is also the author of several books, including: The Mind Like Fire Unbound, The Wings to Awakening, The Paradox of Becoming, Skill in Questions, Noble Strategy, Purity of Heart, and Meditations. He is co-author of the college textbook, Buddhist Religions. His writings and translations are available on the Internet at www.accesstoinsight.org. His Dhamma talks and other writings are also available at www.dhammatalks.org. His five-volume anthology of suttas, Handful of Leaves, is available from the Sati Center of Buddhist Studies.
Mon, 01/03/2011, 10 Perfections Week 1: Discernment 14:01
Mon, 01/10/2011, 10 Perfections Week 2: Truth 17:44
Mon, 01/17/2011, 10 Perfections Week 3: Generosity 14:37
Mon, 01/24/2011, 10 Perfections Week 4: Calm 14:16
Source-Tricycle
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His Holiness to come to Long Beach Convention Center
GSTDL to Host His Holiness the Dalai Lama on May 1, 2011
It gives us great joy to announce that Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling will be hosting His Holiness the Dalai Lama on May 1, 2011. Although His Holiness will be our guest for only one day, it will be an extraordinary day.
We are honored that His Holiness has decided to confer a Solitary Yamantaka Initiation on the morning of May 1, 2011. In the afternoon His Holiness will be delivering a public talk on ‘Secular Ethics and Meditation.’ These events will take place in the Terrace Theater at the Long Beach Convention Center.
His Holiness is requiring several commitments from those who attend the initiation. Please see the Highest Yoga Tantra page for more information on the initiation. Because it is so rare that His Holiness would confer an initiation from the Highest Yoga Tantra class of initiations in the United States, we feel something very special and significant will be taking place. The tickets for the Initiation will be free of cost for all; however, only serious students who are willing to abide by the commitments laid out by His Holiness may attend the initiation. Please read the Highest Yoga Tantra page for more details, including information on how to register for the Initiation. Monastics may register for the events on May 1, 2011 by completing the online registration form at the bottom of the Highest Yoga Tantra page.
We invite you to become a sponsor of His Holiness’ 2011 visit. See the Invitation to Become a Sponsor page for more information.
In addition to the event on May 1, 2011, Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling will be sponsoring several events in the days leading up to May 1, 2011. See the Gaden Shartse Thubten Dhargye Ling Weekend page.
Tickets for His Holiness’ public talk and for the GSTDL Weekend events will be available for purchase by the general public starting 10 am on February 22, 2011 via Ticketmaster. Type ‘GSTDL’ into the search box on the www.ticketmaster.com website to bring up all four events for which tickets will be sold via Ticketmaster. Tickets may also be purchased through the box office of the Long Beach Convention Center starting at 10 am on February 22, 2011.
We have posted a page with travel and lodging information and also a page with answers to frequently asked questions.
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